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Space

Cosmic smash-ups may push huge black holes away from their homes

By Leah Crane

4 June 2021

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

An artist’s representation of a black hole at the centre of a galaxy

titoOnz / Alamy

Nearly every large galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole at its centre, but sometimes these enormous objects may bounce away from the middle of their home. A new search has found nine such off-centre black holes, which may help us figure out how supermassive black holes formed.

In the early universe, galaxies and black holes formed and evolved together. Supermassive black holes are the most massive objects in any galaxy, so they inevitably ended up in the centres of their galaxies.

But over time,…

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