15 May 2018
SkyMapper finds fastest-growing black hole in Universe
The Australian National University's SkyMapper telescope has discovered the fastest-growing black hole known to exist in the Universe.
"This black hole is growing so rapidly that it's shining thousands of times more brightly than an entire galaxy, due to all of the gases it sucks in daily that cause lots of friction and heat," said Dr Christian Wolf from the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
"If we had this monster sitting at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy, it would appear 10 times brighter than a full moon. It would appear as an incredibly bright pin-point star that would almost wash out all of the stars in the sky."
For more information, please see:
ANU News: http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/astronomers-find-fastest-growing-black-hole-known-in-space
ABC News: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-15/monster-black-hole-discovered,-and-its-growing-very-fast/9761540
ABC Radio: http://www.abc.net.au/radio/canberra/programs/am/australian-scientists-uncover-cosmic-monster/9761440
Imagery is available from the SkyMapper Media Gallery.