Scientists have "caught" a supermassive black hole in motion

Scientists have long assumed that supermassive black holes could wander in space, but it was impossible to “catch” them

not easy. Researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have discovered such a movement.

Scientists explained that most supermassiveblack holes will not move noticeably. The researchers expected that the speed of black holes would match the speed of the galaxies in which they reside. If these velocities diverge, it means the black hole has been disturbed in some way.

For the study, scientists studied 10 distantgalaxies and supermassive black holes at their centers. They specifically looked closely at black holes containing water in their accretion disks. When water rotates around a black hole, it produces a laser-like beam of radio waves. This can help measure the black hole's speed quite accurately.

So the researchers found that 9 out of 10objects were at rest, but one black hole was in motion. It is located at a distance of 230 million light years from Earth. This object is moving at a speed of about 177 thousand kilometers per hour. What makes the black hole move is not yet clear.