The massive "Cosmic Horseshoe" galaxy system likely hosts a colossal black hole measuring 36 billion times the mass of our sun — one of the largest ever seen in the universe, a new study finds.
Scientists found the cosmic monster by peering through a halo of light called an "Einstein ring," which is a kind of gravitational lens. Lensing happens when a massive foreground object, such as a galaxy cluster or a black hole, warps space-time, magnifying the light of more distant objects behind.
