As the name implies, a supermassive black hole is an immensely large black hole that is found at the center of most galaxies including our own - the Milky Way galaxy.
A mass of a supermassive black hole ranges from millions to billions of times the mass of our sun. They are also extremely dense objects that have very strong gravitational fields.
The black hole's "event horizon" is the point of no return beyond which nothing can escape its gravitational pull.
Now, scientists report that a supermassive black hole of Galaxy PBC J2333.9-2343 is facing our solar system. It is pointed toward Earth.
Scientists who were studying the Galaxy PBC J2333.9-2343 noticed that it was displaying many peculiar properties. They hypothesized that its black hole had changed direction.
The galaxy is located 657 million light years away. It is also very large - stretching 4 million light-years across which is nearly 40 times the size of the Milky Way Galaxy.
After making observations, scientists reported that the galaxy had basically rotated 90 degrees and is now facing Earth. They also reclassified the galaxy as a supermassive black hole.
They theorize that the change in direction is because PBC J2333.9-2343 may have collided with another galaxy.
While black holes are a threat to Earth, it is not clear what effects PBC J2333.9-2343 will have on Earth or our galaxy now that it is pointed toward us.
It is still a very high-energy object and is one of the most powerful phenomena in the universe.
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