Black hole discovered in nearby galaxy

AUSTIN (KXAN) - It took a Texas-sized computer to discover a black hole that is two to three times bigger than previously thought in the heart of M87, one of the largest nearby giant galaxies.

The black hole weighs about 6.4 billion times the Sun's mass and is the largest black hole found so far. In fact, its sheer size is throwing previous calculations about black hole formation and growth out of the window.

However, the discovery might solve a "long-standing astronomical paradox." Now, astronomers conducting the study feel previous calculations of the mass of black holes might be underestimated.

"There is a long-standing problem in that quasar black hole masses were very large," said Karl Gebhardt , an astronomer working on the project. "But, in local galaxies, we never saw black holes that massive, not nearly. The suspicions was before that the quasar masses were wrong. [But] if we increase the mass of M87 two or three times, the problem almost goes away."

The theory of black hole formation and growth is based on known galaxies and clocking speed of orbiting stars. Studies of mass are also important, but "the crucial part is to determine whether the mass is in the black hole, the stars or the dark halo," said Jens Thomas of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics.

To find this black hole, Thomas and Gebhardt used the University of Texas at Austin's Texas Advanced Computing Center , one of the world's most powerful supercomputer. What they found was astonishing.

"We did not expect it at all," said Gebhardt.

Gebhardt and Thomas planned to simply do some detective work in what they call "the most important galaxy out there," the M87. Gebhardt and Thomas plan to submit their findings for publication soon.