The two galaxies shown here, NGC 6278 and PGC 039620, are representative of the more than 1,600 galaxies analyzed in a new study. Image credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/F. Zou et al.; Optical: SDSS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk

This finding, led by researchers at the University of Michigan using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, is at odds with the prevailing astronomical notion that nearly every massive galaxy has one of these giant black holes at its core.

The team, made up of researchers from more than a dozen institutions around the world, used data from more than 1,600 galaxies collected over 20-plus years of the federally-funded Chandra mission. The size of the galaxies ranged from more than 10 times the mass of the Milky Way down to dwarf galaxies, which have masses less than a few percent of our home galaxy.

To read more, please follow this link to Michigan News.