Amount of galaxy's mysterious dark matter determines size of black hole

A new study has provided a deeper insight into how the amount of galaxy's mysterious dark matter determines the size of its central black hole.

The research of football-shaped collections of stars called elliptical galaxies provides new insights into the connection between a galaxy and its black hole. It finds that the invisible hand of dark matter somehow influences black hole growth.

This connection was likely to be related to how elliptical galaxies grow. An elliptical galaxy would be formed when smaller galaxies merge, their stars and dark matter mingling and mixing together. Because the dark matter outweighs everything else, it molds the newly formed elliptical galaxy and guides the growth of the central black hole.

The study is published in the Astrophysical Journal.