Many galaxies appear to have supermassive black holes in their centers powering active galactic nuclei (also called AGN). The Schwarzschild radius of these supermassive black holes can be estimated in part by watching for changes in the brightness of the surrounding AGN and measuring the timescale of those changes. Assume we observe an AGN and determine it varies with a timescale of 9.85 minutes, which implies a Schwarzschild radius on the order of 1.77x10¹1 meters. Estimate the mass of this supermassive black hole. kg

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Many galaxies appear to have supermassive black holes in their centers powering active galactic nuclei (also called AGN). The
Schwarzschild radius of these supermassive black holes can be estimated in part by watching for changes in the brightness of the
surrounding AGN and measuring the timescale of those changes.
Assume we observe an AGN and determine it varies with a timescale of 9.85 minutes, which implies a Schwarzschild radius on the order
of 1.77x1011 meters. Estimate the mass of this supermassive black hole.
kg
Transcribed Image Text:Many galaxies appear to have supermassive black holes in their centers powering active galactic nuclei (also called AGN). The Schwarzschild radius of these supermassive black holes can be estimated in part by watching for changes in the brightness of the surrounding AGN and measuring the timescale of those changes. Assume we observe an AGN and determine it varies with a timescale of 9.85 minutes, which implies a Schwarzschild radius on the order of 1.77x1011 meters. Estimate the mass of this supermassive black hole. kg
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