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Black holes in astrophysics
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Stellar and supermassive black holes.
Stellar black holes (3–100 M☉) form from massive star collapse; supermassive ones (10⁶–10¹⁰ M☉) sit in galaxy centres; imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope (M87*, Sgr A*).
Cygnus X-1 about 21 M☉.
Accretion discs make them shine.
In more detail
Black holes in astrophysics form from the collapse of massive stars and grow by accretion and mergers. Supermassive black holes lie at the centres of many galaxies.
Real-world uses
- Black holes power quasars and active galactic nuclei.
- Gravitational waves from mergers are detected by observatories.
- Astronomers observe black holes in X-ray binaries and at galaxy centres to understand how they grow.
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Frequently asked questions
How big are stellar black holes?
Typically 5 to 30 solar masses.
Where are supermassive black holes?
At the centres of most large galaxies, including the Milky Way.
How big are supermassive black holes?
They can contain millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun and sit at the centres of most large galaxies.
Related topics in Particle Physics & Cosmology
White dwarfs · Chandrasekhar limit · Neutron stars and pulsars · Galaxies · Milky Way · Hubble's law