Cosmic smash-ups may push huge black holes away from their homes

By Leah Crane

Nearly every large galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole at its centre, but sometimes these enormous objects may bounce away from the middle of their home. A new search has found nine such off-centre black holes, which may help us figure out how supermassive black holes formed.

In the early universe, galaxies and black holes formed and evolved together. Supermassive black holes are the most massive objects in any galaxy, so they inevitably ended up in the centres …