Measuring a black hole’s mass isn’t easy. A new technique could change that
Measuring a black hole’s mass isn’t easy. A new technique could change that Flickering in the gas and dust of the accretion disk of a black hole provides hints of its mass Astronomers have figured out how to use the disk of hot gas and dust around some black holes (like the one shown in this artist’s illustration) to measure the black hole’s mass. MARK A. GARLICK, SIMONS FOUNDATION Share this: Email Facebook Twitter Pocket Reddit Print By Lisa Grossman AUGUST 12, 2021 AT 2:00 PM An actively feeding black hole surrounds itself with a disk of hot gas and dust that flickers like a campfire. Astronomers have now found that monitoring changes in those flickers can reveal something that is notoriously hard to measure: the behemoth’s heft. “It’s a new way to weigh black holes,” says astronomer Colin Burke of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. What’s more, the method could be used on any astrophysical object with an accretion disk , and may even help find elusive mid