What originated earlier: galaxies or black holes

What originated earlier: galaxies or black holes

In theory, it is believed that a supermassive black hole can be found at the center of each galaxy. They merge so harmoniously, as if made for each other. However, what came first: a black hole or a galaxy?

Supermassive black holes - large-scale monsters, swallowing any object, approaching a dangerous distance. However, when compared with galaxies, these are tiny objects that occupy only a small part of the galactic structure. If we talk about large galaxies (elliptical and spiral), then usually their central supermassive black holes occupy about 0.1% of the mass of the native galaxy.

What originated earlier: galaxies or black holes

Stages of the evolution of a star

Scientists have long tried to understand this issue and were able to provide an answer in 2009 at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The team of Christopher Carilli focused on the study of 4 galaxies with an age of 12 billion years.

Measuring the speed of gas clouds, the researchers were able to determine the mass of galaxies, and spectral emission lines made it possible to estimate the masses of supermassive black holes. It turned out that the ancient supermassive monsters are proportionately heavier than in the modern universe. More precisely, they occupied as much as 3% of the massiveness of the galactic.

What originated earlier: galaxies or black holes

This is a new Hubble photo of the inner region of Abell 1689 - a huge cluster of galaxies located 2.2 billion light years from us. In the center of the photograph of the cosmos is dark matter, which can be detected thanks to the formation of a multitude of arches of light from the rear galaxies, distorted by the frontal gravitational background. Dark matter can not be photographed, but in the picture it is marked in blue.

How to explain it? Black holes are not compressed, which means that this galaxy had to grow to reduce the mass ratio to the current rate of 0.1%. It turns out that supermassive black holes were the first to appear, and already in some (still mysterious) way, galaxies formed around them.

It is important to note that the study was conducted on 4 galaxies, which is small for a statistical sample. Perhaps a similar situation with mass is not observed in all ancient galaxies. In addition, it does not explain how black holes arose, and how they managed to hold a galaxy around them.

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