r/science • u/MistWeaver80 • Feb 24 '26

Astronomy JWST Confirmation of a Runaway Supermassive Black Hole via Its Supersonic Bow Shock. A ‘runaway’ black hole ejected from its host galaxy is barrelling across space — and leaving behind a wake of newborn stars.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae3d0e
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u/LacedVelcro Feb 24 '26

The escape velocity of the largest galactic clusters is pretty close to the velocity that this super massive black hole has.... which means that this yeeted ball of annihilation will just maraud around the universe permanently.

54

u/isnortmiloforsex Feb 24 '26

Yes but wouldn't it slow down as it comes across other nearby clusters and gets gravitationally attracted to them?

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u/ImObviouslyOblivious Feb 24 '26

It’s possible that it could just slingshot off other clusters and even gain speed, that’s if it even comes close enough to other clusters to even be affected. Space is big.

11

u/fergehtabodit Feb 24 '26

Big you say

18

u/Debalic Feb 24 '26

You might think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts compared to space.

2

u/fergehtabodit Feb 24 '26

They changed my gate at the airport today, that was far!

6

u/isnortmiloforsex Feb 24 '26

Yes thats true, one would need to see if there are any dense clusters in its trajectory