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Supermassive Black Hole

A black hole with a mass ranging from millions to billions of times that of the Sun, typically found at the centers of galaxies. These black holes influence the dynamics and evolution of their host galaxies.

Source: nasa.gov

APODs including "Supermassive Black Hole"

Galaxy Cluster Abell 2666

10/03/2017

Galaxy Cluster Abell 2666
Image Credit: Bernhard Hubl / NASA APOD

The galaxies of Abell 2666 lie far beyond the Milky Way, some 340 million light-years distant toward the high flying constellation Pegasus. Framed in this sharp telescopic image, the pretty cluster galaxies are gathered behind scattered, spiky, Milky Way stars. At cluster center is giant elliptical galaxy NGC 7768, the central dominant galaxy of the cluster. As the cluster forms, such massive galaxies are thought to grow by mergers of galaxies that fall through the center of the cluster's gravitational well. Typical of dominant cluster galaxies, NGC 7768 likely harbors a supermassive black hole. At the estimated distance of Abell 2666, this cosmic frame would span about 5 million light-years.