The size of 36 billion suns: scientists have found the largest black hole

Astronomers have discovered one of the largest black holes in the Universe - its mass reaches 36 billion suns. It is hidden in the center of the so-called "cosmic horseshoe" – a system of two galaxies in the constellation of Leo, which was first recorded in 2007.

A characteristic feature of this object is the luminous ring surrounding the galaxy LRG 3-757. This phenomenon, known as the Einstein ring, is caused by gravitational lensing, an effect predicted by Albert Einstein in 1915. A massive galaxy bends the light from a distant galaxy behind it, creating a characteristic shining ring. This is reported by Live Science.

Analysis of data obtained using the MUSE spectrograph in Chile and images from the Hubble telescope showed that the black hole in the center of LRG 3-757 has such a large mass that it provides the right level of gravity for such a light curvature. The researchers analyzed the movement of stars in the galaxy, its total mass (which is 100 times the mass of the Milky Way), and concluded that without this giant black hole, the observed data cannot be explained.

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