News – Page 74 – National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Artist's conception of how the "nearly naked" supermassive black hole originated

Close Galactic Encounter Leaves “Nearly Naked” Supermassive Black Hole

November 2, 2016 at 3:27 pm | News Release

Astronomers using the super-sharp radio vision of the National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) have found the shredded remains of a galaxy that passed through a larger galaxy, leaving only the smaller galaxy’s nearly-naked supermassive black hole to emerge and speed away at more than 2,000 miles per second.

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