NASA and University of Maryland researchers discover wandering supermassive black hole

A research team led by Robert Stein from the University of Maryland and NASA has identified a wandering supermassive black hole. Unlike most black holes that reside at the centers of galaxies, this object was found drifting through space, far from any galactic core.

Using the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in California, researchers utilized a machine learning program called ‘tdescore’ to analyze massive datasets. The software identifies specific light curves created when a black hole’s extreme gravity tears a star apart, a process known as a tidal disruption event.

The specific event, designated TDE 2025abcr, was detected in the constellation Cetus, approximately 750 million light-years from Earth. The black hole is located more than 30,000 light-years away from its host galaxy’s center.