Supermassive Black Holes Grew by Consuming Gas and Entire Stars

Where do they come from, those beguiling singularities that flummox astrophysicists--and the rest of us. Sure, we understand the processes behind stellar mass black holes, and how they form from the gravitational collapse of a star. But what about the staggering behemoths at the center of galaxies, those supermassive black holes (SMBH) that can grow …