[Dracus]

more info on black holes
Known Black Holes Number 30
Galaxies with a big bulge of stars in the middle are much more likely to spawn a massive black
hole, while comparatively flat-bellied galaxies like our Milky Way harbor black holes with only a
few million solar masses, the scientists said in statements.
Scientists at the University of Texas, the University of California at Santa Cruz and the
University of Michigan were able to reach these conclusions because of the recent discovery of
10 super massive black holes in galaxy centers, raising the total number of known black holes to
30, a large enough group for study.
To measure the masses of black holes — huge matter-sucking drains that gobble up
everything that gets within their pull, even light — astronomers used the average speed of stars
near the black hole.
The closer the stars get to the black hole, the faster they move. The galaxies with small to
average star speeds have small black holes, while those with very high speeds contain
extremely large black holes, the astronomers found.
Copyright 2000 Reuters.



[This message has been edited by Dracus (edited 30 March 2001).]