Astronomers Take the Measure of a Monster Black Hole

Seventy million light-years from Earth lies the somewhat odd galaxy NGC 1332. It falls somewhere in between the two main galaxy types of elliptical and spiral; it's disk shaped but lacks obvious spiral arms and is quite elongated. Like all big galaxies, though, it has a black hole in its very center. And not just any black hole, but a supermassive black hole. Current astronomical thinking is that these monsters form at the same time as the galaxy, and affect each other's growth. Gas pours down t...