Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
There’s now a big debate raging over whether that’s really what this fuzzy smudge is, with another research group claiming that it’s not a runaway SMBH at all, but instead just a very thin, flat galaxy that we’re seeing from the side, edge-on.
So safe to say Sánchez Almeida and collaborators are not convinced by the runaway SMBH argument.
But I think I am.
My area of research is disk galaxies at large distances, and also nearby bulgeless, flat disk galaxies that host supermassive black holes, so I’d consider myself an expert in what these look like, and I’m not convinced this is a galaxy. It has too much structure for one thing, more than you’d expect to see for a disk galaxy at this distance. To put it another way the light isn’t as smoothly distributed as I’d think/
Plus the light doesn’t fall off from the middle like you’d expect in a disc galaxy either, RBH1 has these sharp edges.
And while yes it does have low nitrogen and silicon ratios compared to hydrogen, it still sits right on the boundary we’d draw for normal growing SMBHs in normal galaxies. But if this is a runaway SMBH then it’s not normal, so is argue these boundaries would shift around, plus look at the normal galaxy population anyway, it’s not clear cut there’s a continuum of values, so there’s already a big margin of error on these boundaries we draw anyway.
So personally I’m convinced more by the runaway supermassive black hole argument. But if you’re not convinced then just yet, then the next thing we can do is to try and find more of these candidate runaway supermassive black holes.
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: martino.freelance@gmail.com
Video produced by Marina Hui & Dr Becky Smethurst
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📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): lnk.to/DrBecky
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👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
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🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
---
🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
---
👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford. I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
There’s now a big debate raging over whether that’s really what this fuzzy smudge is, with another research group claiming that it’s not a runaway SMBH at all, but instead just a very thin, flat galaxy that we’re seeing from the side, edge-on.
So safe to say Sánchez Almeida and collaborators are not convinced by the runaway SMBH argument.
But I think I am.
My area of research is disk galaxies at large distances, and also nearby bulgeless, flat disk galaxies that host supermassive black holes, so I’d consider myself an expert in what these look like, and I’m not convinced this is a galaxy. It has too much structure for one thing, more than you’d expect to see for a disk galaxy at this distance. To put it another way the light isn’t as smoothly distributed as I’d think/
Plus the light doesn’t fall off from the middle like you’d expect in a disc galaxy either, RBH1 has these sharp edges.
And while yes it does have low nitrogen and silicon ratios compared to hydrogen, it still sits right on the boundary we’d draw for normal growing SMBHs in normal galaxies. But if this is a runaway SMBH then it’s not normal, so is argue these boundaries would shift around, plus look at the normal galaxy population anyway, it’s not clear cut there’s a continuum of values, so there’s already a big margin of error on these boundaries we draw anyway.
So personally I’m convinced more by the runaway supermassive black hole argument. But if you’re not convinced then just yet, then the next thing we can do is to try and find more of these candidate runaway supermassive black holes.
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: martino.freelance@gmail.com
Video produced by Marina Hui & Dr Becky Smethurst
---
📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): lnk.to/DrBecky
---
👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
---
🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
---
🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
---
👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford. I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
