GALACTIC MERGERS HELP MONSTER BLACK HOLES GROW (STScI-PR06-04)

Donna Weaver
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
(Phone: 410-338-4493)

Rogier Windhorst
Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
(Phone: 480/965-7143)

RELEASE NO.: STScI-PR06-04

GALACTIC MERGERS HELP MONSTER BLACK HOLES GROW

An analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope's deepest view of the universe
offers compelling evidence that monster black holes in the centers of
galaxies were not born big but grew over time through repeated galactic
mergers. The Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) studies also confirm recent
computer simulations that predict that that newly merging galaxies are
enshrouded in so much dust that astronomers cannot see black holes
feasting on stars and gas from the mergers. The computer simulations,
as supported by Hubble, suggest that it takes hundreds of millions to a
billion years before enough dust clears so that astronomers can see the
black holes feasting on stars and gas from the merger.

For images and additional information about this research on the Web, visit:
http://hubblesite.org/news/2006/04.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency. The Space Telescope
Science Institute in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations.
The Institute is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities
for Research in Astronomy, Inc., Washington.

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