Computer drawn image of Phoenix A*. Not real.
Phoenix A* (pronounced Phoenix A Star) is the largest black hole currently discovered. The black hole was initially discovered in 2010 AC by R. Williamson and his colleagues during a survey by the South Pole telescope in Antarctica along with it's hypermassive, Abell class galaxy cluster. Phoenix A is located in the Phoenix Cluster, which is approximately 5,700,000,000 light years from Earth. The black hole has an astounding estimated mass of 100,000,000,000 Solar Masses (SM) , as well as an estimated Schwarzschild diameter of 1,950 AU vs Ton 618's mass of 66,000,000,000 SM and a Schwarzchild diameter of 1,300 AU.
An image of the galaxy cluster in which Phoenix A* resides in.
Trivia[]
- Phoenix A is 24,100 times the mass of Sagittarius A, the quasar located in the Milky Way galaxy.
- Ton-618, the currently known largest black hole is dwarfed in comparison to Phoenix A* by an astronomical estimated 100,000,000,000 Solar Masses.
- Phoenix A is the equivalent of roughly 15.4% the mass of the Milky Way galaxy.
- It's scale is so astronomical that if we were to replace our sun with Phoenix A*, it would envelop the entirety of the Solar System.
- It is one of the largest black holes.
Type[]
The type of black hole Phoenix A* is, is a Supermassive Black Hole.