U of U researchers discover more than 2,500 black holes

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A team of scientists at the University of Utah have identified thousands of new dwarf galaxies hosting black holes at their center.

The discovery marks the largest sample of such galaxies ever compiled and will expand scientists’ understanding of the number of black holes that exist in the universe while also setting the stage for more research on the formation of the universe’s first black holes.

According to Ragadeepika Pucha, who led the research, the discovery was made possible by a massive, four-meter-tall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tuscon, Arizona.

“Detecting black holes in dwarf galaxies is very hard because dwarf galaxies are very faint,” Pucha told ABC4.com.

The team’s early data included an unprecedented 410,000 galaxies captured in one image series, 115,000 of which were small galaxies known as dwarf galaxies.

According to Pucha, when a black hole begins feeding, it releases a large amount of energy, which scientists can detect. “This dramatic activity serves as a beacon, allowing us to identify hidden black holes in these small galaxies,” she said.

“In the dwarf galaxies, we found about 2,500 of these active black holes, which is the largest sample to date…and triples the amount of galaxies that have been found before,” Pucha told ABC4.com, adding that the team’s findings indicate that many black holes have gone undetected in past research.

Data from the team’s findings were collected through an instrument known as a Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which measures dark energy in the cosmos by taking optical spectra, or images, of millions of galaxies and quasars, before constructing a 3D map spanning up to 11 billion light-years away.

The telescope is the most powerful of its kind in the world Pucha said. “This is just one science that can be done…there is much more that is being done and will be done using this data. We just have to wait for the results [from] the amazing telescope that it is,” she said.