A gigantic black hole of immense mass has recently disappeared.

Finding an object that weighs billions of times the mass of our sun should be easy, right? Unfortunately, it's not that simple. For example, a supermassive black hole in the Galaxy cluster Abel 2261 is missing. These Mega monsters churn slowly at the center of their home galaxies, gathering tremendous clouds of gas and dust, making them swell up to unimaginable sizes. If a supermassive black hole like the one at the center of our Milky Way moved even a little bit closer to our solar system, it would spell doom. The distance between this huge object and Earth could be several dozens of light years, and we would be dragged into its orbit for eternity. Luckily, such black holes are staying away from us at the moment.

Now, let's talk about the runaway supermassive black hole from the cluster of galaxies around 2.7 billion light-years away from us. Scientists have been searching for it with the help of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, but so far, no luck. The main problem with finding a black hole is that it's black, and space is black too. So, there's no contrast that could help astronomers spot it. However, scientists haven't given up yet. They have other techniques to find black holes, such as watching stars orbiting them, detecting fake gravitational wave signals produced by two colliding black holes, and watching dust and gas falling into their abyss. The challenge is that black holes have insane gravity, causing regions of space surrounding them to be chaotic, with gas and dust getting pulled into the bottomless abyss and compressing and heating up in the process.

Finding an object with a mass billions of times that of our sun should be a simple task, but unfortunately, it's not as straightforward in the case of missing black holes. Let's take a trip to the Galaxy cluster Abel 2261, where a supermassive black hole is supposed to be at its center. However, this massive space phenomenon is nowhere to be found. Supermassive black holes are colossal beasts that slowly churn at the center of their galaxies, gathering enormous clouds of gas and dust around them, making them swell to sizes beyond the human mind's imagination. If a supermassive black hole, such as the one at the Milky Way's center, moved even slightly closer to our solar system, it would spell doom for Earth and the rest of our solar system. Even if the distance between the black hole and Earth was several dozen light-years away, we would still be pulled into its orbit, doomed to spin around it forever, or longer. Hence, it's a relief that such black holes are far away from us, for now.

Scientists have been searching for the missing runaway supermassive black hole from the gigantic cluster of galaxies around 2.7 billion years away from us, with the help of NASA's Chandra x-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, but so far, with no success. The primary challenge in finding a black hole is that it's, well, black, and space is black too. Therefore, there's no contrast to aid astronomers in spotting the hole. However, scientists haven't given up yet, as they have other methods and technologies to find black holes, both small and large, in the vast expanse of space. Some of these methods include watching the stars orbiting black holes, detecting fake gravitational wave signals generated when two black holes collide. However, the most reliable method is observing dust and gas falling into the black holes' doom.

As the material falls into the black hole, it releases a flood of X-ray radiation, making it easy for astronomers to spot extremely bright X-ray sources in the universe. These sources are most likely the last gasps of giant clumps of material before disappearing into a black hole. So why can't scientists find such X-ray signatures left by the black hole in Abel 2261? One of the most mysterious aspects of its disappearance is that radio telescopes have detected signs of massive plumes of superheated material launched by a large black hole at one point within the last 50 million years. These plumes were most likely caused by a massive black hole that is nowhere to be found these days. At the moment, scientists can only guess, as maybe two medium-sized black holes collided, pushing the newly merged giant out of the center of the Galaxy. Observations of the stars in that Galaxy have shown a clump of dense material a few thousand light-years away from the Galaxy's core. Maybe it's the runaway black hole, but disappointingly, no X-ray signals are coming from that clump. Another possibility is that the black hole is still in its rightful place, but it's in a state of slumber as it doesn't get a fresh supply of gas and dust to feed on. As a result, it can't release a flood of X-rays. But once again, the answer, "do not disturb, the black hole is sleeping," is not very satisfying. What happened 50 million years ago, and what does that clump of material speeding away from the Galaxy center look like? These are some of the questions that remain unanswered so far.

So, what do black holes look like? Well, the answer is somewhat complicated. It's actually the shadow of a black hole's Event Horizon visible against the glowing superheated material falling inside the hole.The first-ever image of a black hole, essentially a "mug shot," was revealed in 2019, although the data to create it had been collected in 2017. It took more than two years for an international team of over 200 astronomers to assemble the image using a vast global network of telescopes known as the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (EHT). The EHT allows us to admire this incredible space phenomenon, named after the point of no return on the outer edge of a black hole called the event horizon, where matter, radiation, or light cannot escape the black hole's gravitational pull.

Scientists have achieved a remarkable feat by creating a virtual telescope as large as the planet through a combination of eight powerful radio telescopes. However, this wasn't an easy task as researchers had to meticulously plan and simultaneously point the telescopes in a precise order using atomic clocks to minimize the chances of rain during bad weather. Additionally, the telescopes were constructed in super-dry regions like the Atacama Desert in Chile and the South Pole. On observation days, the telescope gathers approximately 350 terabytes of data, which is ten times more than that collected at the Large Hadron Collider.

Moving on to black holes, there exist Stellar black holes, which are smaller yet even more dangerous than their supermassive counterparts. These black holes are formed when stars, having run out of their star fuel, collapse into themselves. If a star is massive enough, it keeps compressing until it becomes a baby Stellar black hole, which can be five to several tens of times heavier than the Sun.

Many black holes, unlike their massive siblings, could be tiny, not bigger than an atom. However, just one of these minuscule things would have the mass of a thousand SUVs. According to one theory, tons of micro black holes might have been created right after the Big Bang and the beginning of the universe. Some scientists even suggest that a couple of mini black holes pass through our planet every day, and there is a supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, located in the center of our galaxy. It is 4.3 million times as heavy as the Sun, but we needn't worry; it's more than 26,000 light-years away from Earth, so it has no influence on our planet. Recently, astronomers discovered that Sagittarius A* might be leaking; if it's true, it could be because the black hole is hiccuping while swallowing clouds of gas. Maybe we should burp this baby. If you ever find yourself near a black hole, get ready for time to significantly slow down. It may work for you if you aren't eager to grow older. Just don't let yourself be tugged beyond the point of no return.

In a recent discovery, scientists detected a supermassive black hole in a galaxy cluster about 390 million light-years away from Earth that had punched a hole in the cluster's hot gas during a temper tantrum many years ago. The resulting crater could fit 15 Milky Way galaxies. In conclusion, if you have satisfied your curiosity.