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Supermassive black hole
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<p>A supermassive black hole (SMBH or sometimes SBH) is the largest type of <a href="/facts/Black_hole/1r2lmkcF">black hole</a>, with its <a href="/facts/Mass/HHdc8XmF">mass</a> being <a href="/facts/On_the_order_of/cWzRP2dM">on the order of</a> hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions, of times the mass of the <a href="/facts/Sun/CadPCVHh">Sun</a> (<a href="/facts/Solar_mass/j6Auhku8">M☉</a>). Black holes are a class of <a href="/facts/Astronomical_object/BCHLa0Q2">astronomical objects</a> that have undergone <a href="/facts/Gravitational_collapse/7f4zQs8Y">gravitational collapse</a>, leaving behind <a href="/facts/Spheroid/GJyyLxQ7">spheroidal</a> regions of space from which nothing can escape, including <a href="/facts/Light/jeofpMn4">light</a>. Observational evidence indicates that almost every large <a href="/facts/Galaxy/zCyUvEf7">galaxy</a> has a supermassive black hole at its <a href="/facts/Central_massive_object/bkNq2nzR">center</a>. For example, the <a href="/facts/Milky_Way/ulF6lccN">Milky Way</a> galaxy has a <a href="/facts/Galactic_Center/TI4MwWwM">supermassive black hole at its center</a>, corresponding to the <a href="/facts/Astronomical_radio_source/FEJFMcI8">radio source</a> <a href="/facts/Sagittarius_A*/5TWIRfgm">Sagittarius A*</a>. <a href="/facts/Accretion_(astrophysics)/atcWRsDP">Accretion</a> of <a href="/facts/Interstellar_medium/mokU0WEz">interstellar gas</a> onto supermassive black holes is the process responsible for powering <a href="/facts/Active_galactic_nucleus/qT1owvXz">active galactic nuclei</a> (AGNs) and <a href="/facts/Quasar/HS96328l">quasars</a>. </p><p>Two supermassive black holes have been directly imaged by the <a href="/facts/Event_Horizon_Telescope/msJwLooR">Event Horizon Telescope</a>: the black hole in the giant <a href="/facts/Elliptical_galaxy/1PUchrj1">elliptical galaxy</a> Messier 87 and the black hole at the <a href="/facts/Galactic_Center/TI4MwWwM">Milky Way's center</a> (Sagittarius A*). </p>