Evidence of supermassive black holes found in neighbouring galaxies

Astronomers find evidence of black holes concealed behind clouds of gas and dust in two of Earth's galactic neighbours

Monster black holes may be lurking behind smokescreens in our cosmic backyard, say scientists. But they are still millions of light years away and much too distant to pose any threat to Earth.

Astronomers have discovered evidence of supermassive black holes at the centre of two of our galactic neighbours. One, the galaxy NGC 1448, is "just" 38m light years from our own body of stars, the Milky Way. The other, IC 3639, is 170m light years away. Both are classified as "active" galaxies that emit intense levels of radiation.