Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Supermassive black holes are pretty mind blowing. Some of them are larger than our entire solar system. The problem is, the universe isn't old enough for them to exist.

00:00 Cold Open
00:42 What does Supermassive mean?
02:33 Black Hole Formation
05:21 Quasi-Stars
08:09 What do we know for sure?
09:25 Sponsor Message
10:39 Outro
10:58 Featured Comment

Nick Lucid - Host/Writer/Editor/Animator
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VIDEO ANNOTATIONS/CARDS

Life Cycle of the Sun:
youtu.be/GltTRdM1RW4

Hawking Radiation:
youtu.be/rrUvLlrvgxQ

Heat Flow with a Thermal Camera:
youtu.be/bBLCNzFaTJ0
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RELATED YOUTUBE VIDEOS

Kurzgesagt on Black Hole Size:
youtu.be/0FH9cgRhQ-k

PBS Space Time on Primordial Black Holes:
youtu.be/rcv_tYcRgw4
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OTHER SOURCES

arxiv.org/abs/0711.4078
arxiv.org/abs/1305.5923
phys.org/news/2020-07-maximum-mass-massive-black-holes.html
nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/mercuryfact.html
https://www.gb.nrao.edu/~rmaddale/Education/OrionTourCenter/betelgeuse.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_massive_black_holes
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LINKS TO COMMENTS

youtube.com/watch?v=bBLCNzFaTJ0&lc=UgwcCtY0WoNgovPkiXd4AaABAg
youtube.com/watch?v=bBLCNzFaTJ0&lc=Ugw1BaTNGGiIzSizz1F4AaABAg
youtube.com/watch?v=bBLCNzFaTJ0&lc=UgxZiVb4kqHPSqAhwC54AaABAg
youtube.com/watch?v=bBLCNzFaTJ0&lc=Ugy9nxOfzMLTriayqa14AaABAg
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IMAGE CREDITS

M87*
eventhorizontelescope.org/blog/first-ever-image-black-hole-published-event-horizon-telescope-collaboration

Sagittarius A*
eventhorizontelescope.org/blog/astronomers-reveal-first-image-black-hole-heart-our-galaxy

Gravitational Wave Sim:
https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/video/ligo20160615v1

James Webb Space Telescope:
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14016

Black Hole Mergers Chart:
https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/image/ligo20211107a

Milky Way Zoom In:
eso.org/public/videos/eso1835c

Supernova:
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11447

Big Bang Sim:
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12656

Cosmic Microwave Background:
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2018/07/Planck_s_view_of_the_cosmic_microwave_background