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Astronomy

The Role of Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxy Evolution

Quick fact

The supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87 is 6.5 billion solar masses, yet it contains less than 0.1% of that galaxy's stellar mass. Yet it appears to drive outflow that shapes the surrounding gas.

Why this is interesting

Did you know that the black hole at the center of our Milky Way is about 4 million times the Sun's mass? Yet it's tiny compared to the galaxy, so how could something so small control the fate of an entire galaxy?