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Oxford University astrophysicist Michele Cappellari, who wrote an accompanying commentary in the journal, agreed that the two newly discovered black holes "probably represent the missing dormant relics of the giant black holes that powered the brightest quasars in the early universe." One of the newly detected black holes weighs 9.7 billion times the mass of the sun. The second, slightly farther from Earth, is as big or even bigger. Even larger black holes may be lurking out there. Ma said that's the million-dollar question: How big can a black hole grow? The researchers already are peering into the biggest galaxies for answers. "If there is any bigger black hole," Ma said, "we should be able to find them in the next year or two. Personally, I think we are probably reaching the high end now. Maybe another factor of two to go at best." ___ Online: Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature/
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