Scientists discover colossal black hole pointed toward Earth
Brady Knox
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Scientists discovered a massive black hole pointed directly at Earth.
PBC J2333.9-2343 is located nearly 657 million light years away from Earth and stretches nearly 40 million light-years across, according to the Royal Astronomical Society. That is about 40 times larger than the Milky Way galaxy. The great void was originally classified as a radio galaxy, but it has now been reclassified as a giant radio galaxy.
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“We started to study this galaxy as it showed peculiar properties,” Dr. Lorena Hernandez-Garcia, lead author of the paper and researcher at the Millenium Institute of Astrophysics, said. “Our hypothesis was that the relativistic jet of its supermassive black hole had changed its direction, and to confirm that idea, we had to carry out a lot of observations.”
The unique properties also revealed the old age of the galaxy.
“The fact that we see the nucleus is not feeding the lobes anymore means that they are very old. They are the relics of past activity, whereas the structures located closer to the nucleus represent younger and active jets,” she said.
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The researchers located a blazar, an active galactic nucleus that is considered one of the most powerful phenomena in the universe, in the center of the galaxy. The light being emitted from the blazar is pointed directly at Earth, which is how scientists know the galaxy is pointed toward Earth.
Although the behemoth size of the black hole is intimidating to many, it is far enough from Earth that it poses no threat. A spaceship traveling at an impressive 5 miles per second would take about 37,200 years to travel one light-year, according to Screenshot. To reach PBC J2333.9-2343, it would take that amount of time multiplied by nearly 657 million.