Millions of black holes spotted

A space telescope has added to its list of spectacular finds, spotting millions of supermassive black holes and blisteringly hot, "extreme" galaxies.

The finds, by US space agency Nasa's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (Wise), once lay obscured behind dust.

But Wise can see in wavelengths correlated with heat, seeing for the first time some of the brightest objects in the Universe.

The haul will help astronomers work out how galaxies and black holes form.


Black holes are regions of space where gravity is so powerful that not even light can escape. One way they can form is when huge stars collapse in on themselves.


It is known that most large galaxies host black holes at their centres, sometimes feeding on nearby gas, dust and stars and sometimes spraying out enough energy to halt star formation altogether.

How the two evolve together has remained a mystery, and the Wise data are already yielding some surprises.

Wise gives astronomers what is currently a unique view on the cosmos, looking at wavelengths of light far beyond those we can see but giving information that we cannot get from wavelengths we can.

The study is published Astrophysical Journal.