Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Leo (Leo)  ·  Contains:  The star Regulus (αLeo)
Regulus, the pendulum, and a supermassive black hole in Leo I dwarf galaxy, Bea Budai & Zsolt Paragi
Regulus, the pendulum, and a supermassive black hole in Leo I dwarf galaxy
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Regulus, the pendulum, and a supermassive black hole in Leo I dwarf galaxy

Regulus, the pendulum, and a supermassive black hole in Leo I dwarf galaxy, Bea Budai & Zsolt Paragi
Regulus, the pendulum, and a supermassive black hole in Leo I dwarf galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

Regulus, the pendulum, and a supermassive black hole in Leo I dwarf galaxy

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Earlier we wrote about the famous double star Regulus (Alpha Leonis), and why it is known as the 'Pendulum' by amateur astronomers, as well as the small Milky Way satellite galaxy Leo I in the same field of view:

https://cities-and-skies.com/regulus-the-pendulum/

Now the really interesting news is that Leo I seems to harbour a supermassive black hole. This really turns everything upside down about what we understood of galaxy evolution. Which is that in principle, all galaxies have a massive black hole in their centre. They evolve and grow together. Small galaxy - small black hole, large galaxy - large black hole! Well, apparently not:

(I picked the first link in Google but the news is everywhere)
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-tiny-satellite-galaxy-of-the-milky-way-has-a-black-hole-nearly-as-big-as-sgr-a

Or, see a short YouTube video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5fuPCOIpnY


Our image is not great, it was made with a small telescope in our backyard from a town, during full moon. But the story makes it worth posting here. (And PlateSolve tells me we have yet another galaxy in the image, IC 591!)

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