The supermassive black hole candidate in the center of the galaxy NGC 4261 is estimated to have a mass of 1.2 * 10⁹ M_Sun. What is the Schwarzschild radius of this black hole? A) 1.6* 10⁹ meters, a little larger than the Sun B) 24 au, a little larger than Jupiter's orbit C) 0.95 pc, more than half the distance to the nearest star D) 1600 pc, about one-tenth of the way across the Milky Way Galaxy

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Schwarzschild radius (R_s) is calculated using the formula R_s = 2GM/c^2. For a black hole with a mass of 1.2 x 10^9 M_Sun, this radius is approximately 24 astronomical units (au), which is slightly larger than the orbit of Jupiter.

The Supermassive Black Hole Candidate in the Center of the Galaxy