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Google News – Science Times · 15 days ago · Astronomers Discover First ‘Free-Floating’ Supermassive Black Hole The discovery of a giant black hole wandering through space outside a host galaxy has forced astronomers to rethink how these cosmic behemoths form and evolve. Astronomers Discover First ‘Free-Floating’ Supermassive Black Hole The discovery of a giant black hole wandering through space outside a host galaxy has forced astronomers to rethink how these cosmic behemoths form and evolve. “A supermassive black hole on its own in intergalactic space might sound like a mythical object, but we’ve just found direct evidence that they do exist,” said the study’s lead author, Fuyan Bian of the University of Arizona. The black hole, designated J043947.08+052106.1, has a mass about 100 million times that of our sun, making it too large to have formed through the death of a single star. Instead, astronomers believe it must have formed at the center of a galaxy that was later torn apart by gravitational interactions with other galaxies. “This is a very exciting discovery,” said study co-author Elena Gallo of the University of Arizona. “It’s the first direct evidence that supermassive black holes can exist outside of galaxies, and it provides new insights into how these objects form and evolve.” The discovery was made using the data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has been mapping the universe for more than a decade. The astronomers searched for objects that were emitting X-rays, which are a signature of black holes. They found J043947.08+052106.1 in a region of space that was otherwise empty of galaxies. “We were very surprised to find a supermassive black hole in this location,” said Bian. “It’s not where we would have expected to find it.” The discovery of J043947.08+052106.1 has forced astronomers to rethink how supermassive black holes form and evolve. It is possible that supermassive black holes are more common than astronomers thought, and that they may play a role in the formation and evolution of galaxies. “This discovery opens up a new chapter in the study of supermassive black holes,” said Bian. “We now know that they can exist outside of galaxies, and we need to learn more about how they form and evolve.”.