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---
title: Hubble Telescope Photo Shows Galaxy With Massive Black Hole
description: The galaxy may look calm in photos but it&#x27;s actually home to one of the most massive black holes ever discovered
canonical: https://time.com/4228984/hubble-telescope-black-hole/
author: Justin Worland
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article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2016-02-18T15:49:36.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:11:26.108Z
article:section: Science
og:title: See a Galaxy That&#x27;s Home to One of the Biggest Black Holes Ever Discovered
og:description: The photo was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope
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twitter:title: See a Galaxy That&#x27;s Home to One of the Biggest Black Holes Ever Discovered
twitter:description: The photo was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope
twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d8b2ee49c048e32/69887e215f570fb0bfb1fb21/hubble-space-telescope-elliptical-galaxy-massive-black-hole.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=1200&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
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![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d8b2ee49c048e32/69887e215f570fb0bfb1fb21/hubble-space-telescope-elliptical-galaxy-massive-black-hole.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# See a Galaxy That's Home to One of the Biggest Black Holes Ever Discovered

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![Justin Worland](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce43820e61634237/698a0e76457a527422d63fe7/TIME-JustinWorland.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)


![Justin Worland](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce43820e61634237/698a0e76457a527422d63fe7/TIME-JustinWorland.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Justin Worland


Senior Correspondent

Feb 18, 2016 3:49 PM UTC

![The elliptical galaxy NGC 4889 in front of hundreds of background galaxies, and deeply embedded within the Coma galaxy cluster. Hidden from human eyes, is a gigantic supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d8b2ee49c048e32/69887e215f570fb0bfb1fb21/hubble-space-telescope-elliptical-galaxy-massive-black-hole.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

The elliptical galaxy NGC 4889 in front of hundreds of background galaxies, and deeply embedded within the Coma galaxy cluster. Hidden from human eyes, is a gigantic supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy.

The elliptical galaxy NGC 4889 in front of hundreds of background galaxies, and deeply embedded within the Coma galaxy cluster. Hidden from human eyes, is a gigantic supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy. NASA/ESA

![Justin Worland](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce43820e61634237/698a0e76457a527422d63fe7/TIME-JustinWorland.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)


![Justin Worland](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce43820e61634237/698a0e76457a527422d63fe7/TIME-JustinWorland.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Justin Worland


Senior Correspondent

Feb 18, 2016 3:49 PM UTC

NGC 4889—a galaxy located more than 300 million light-years away—may look calm in photos [released by NASA this month](https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1602/). But the galaxy is actually home to one of the most massive black holes ever discovered.

The galaxy, the largest and brightest in the accompanying image, is home to a black hole 21 times the mass of the sun. For comparison, our galaxy’s black hole is thought to be just four million times the mass of the Sun.

The image comes from the Hubble Space Telescope and was released last week.

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