A team of scientists has discovered that feeding supermassive black holes might be more common than thought, with some estimates suggesting they could account for 30% to 50% of all such black holes. The researchers found that many of these massive cosmic titans are hiding behind vast veils of galactic gas and dust.
Led by Peter Boorman, a researcher at the California Institute of Technology, the team used infrared data from NASA’s NuSTAR spacecraft to visualize the surrounding material around supermassive black holes. This revealed the presence of clouds of hot gas that absorb and re-emit light as infrared radiation, making these objects visible even when obscured.
The discovery could have significant implications for our understanding of galaxy evolution, with some suggesting that the absence of supermassive black holes could lead to larger galaxies. The team’s findings also highlight the importance of obscuration in hiding these massive black holes from view.
According to Boorman, if we could detect X-rays, the sky would be filled with dots representing accreting supermassive black holes. This is because the gas and dust surrounding these black holes heat up and glow intensely, making them some of the brightest objects in the universe.
Source: https://www.space.com/Ravenously-feeding-supermassive-black-holes-hiding-early-universe