Supermassive Black Holes

Supermassive black holes are enormous regions in space where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape. They typically reside at the centers of galaxies, including our Milky Way, and can have masses millions to billions of times that of the Sun. These black holes influence the orbits of nearby stars and are critical in understanding galaxy formation and evolution. Observations, including the motion of stars around them and emissions from surrounding material, provide clues about their existence and role in the universe, making them a key focus in extragalactic astrophysics.