This ultra-massive black hole just broke a record

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Updated 3:02 PM ET, Tue December 3, 2019

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Astronomers have found a white dwarf star surrounded by a gas disk created from an ice giant planet being torn apart by its gravity.
Photos: Wonders of the universe
Astronomers have found a white dwarf star surrounded by a gas disk created from an ice giant planet being torn apart by its gravity.
Hide Caption
1 of 154
New measurements of the black hole at the center of the Holm 15A galaxy reveal it's 40 billion times more massive than our sun, making it the heaviest known black hole to be directly measured.
Photos: Wonders of the universe
New measurements of the black hole at the center of the Holm 15A galaxy reveal it's 40 billion times more massive than our sun, making it the heaviest known black hole to be directly measured.
Hide Caption
2 of 154
This <a href="https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2019/bhfeedback/" target="_blank">image</a>, which combines observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Karl Jansky Very Large Array, shows a black hole that is triggering star formation nearly one million light-years away from it. The large red bubble on the left is a hot gas bubble and the dots of light to the right of it are four galaxies where star formation has increased. The host galaxy of the black hole that released the gas bubble is the bright point of light to the right of the golden light at the center.
Photos: Wonders of the universe
This image, which combines observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Karl Jansky Very Large Array, shows a black hole that is triggering star formation nearly one million light-years away from it. The large red bubble on the left is a hot gas bubble and the dots of light to the right of it are four galaxies where star formation has increased. The host galaxy of the black hole that released the gas bubble is the bright point of light to the right of the golden light at the center.
Hide Caption
3 of 154
A close-up view of an interstellar comet passing through our solar system can be seen on the left. On the right, astronomers used an image of Earth for comparison.
Photos: Wonders of the universe
A close-up view of an interstellar comet passing through our solar system can be seen on the left. On the right, astronomers used an image of Earth for comparison.
Hide Caption
4 of 154
The galaxy NGC 6240 hosts three supermassive black holes at its core.
Photos: Wonders of the universe
The galaxy NGC 6240 hosts three supermassive black holes at its core.
Hide Caption
5 of 154
Gamma-ray bursts are shown in this artist's illustration. They can be triggered by the collision or neutron stars or the explosion of a super massive star, collapsing into a black hole.
Photos: Wonders of the universe
Gamma-ray bursts are shown in this artist's illustration. They can be triggered by the collision or neutron stars or the explosion of a super massive star, collapsing into a black hole.
Hide Caption
6 of 154
Two gaseous clouds resembling peacocks have been found in neighboring dwarf galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. In these images by the ALMA telescopes, red and green highlight molecular gas while blue shows ionized hydrogen gas.
Photos: Wonders of the universe
Two gaseous clouds resembling peacocks have been found in neighboring dwarf galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. In these images by the ALMA telescopes, red and green highlight molecular gas while blue shows ionized hydrogen gas.
Hide Caption
7 of 154
An artist's impression of the Milky Way's big black hole flinging a star from the galaxy's center.
Photos: Wonders of the universe
An artist's impression of the Milky Way's big black hole flinging a star from the galaxy's center.
Hide Caption
8 of 154