The Question of “How Many Black Holes Are There in the Universe?” Answered

Black holes, which are the last stage of the evolution of massive stars that once lived in the universe, are very difficult to see and naturally find, leaving us without an idea: How many black holes are there in the universe? The answer to this question has been somewhat revealed by the work done by Sissa (International School of Advanced Studies) in Italy.

In the study by astrophysicist Alex Sicilia and his team, the team included only black holes formed through the evolution of single or binary stars. Thus, the team was able to calculate the birth rate of stellar black holes between 5 and 160 times the mass of the Sun over the lifetime of the universe. The result was extremely shocking.

“There are 40 quintillion black holes in the universe”

Thanks to the calculated birth rate, the researchers announced that there are approximately 40 quintillions, or 40,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (18 pieces of 0) stellar black holes, in the observable universe today, in an area of ​​93 billion light years in diameter. It has been stated that these stellar black holes are formed by binary black hole mergers in star clusters.

What’s more fascinating and frightening is that this number only shows black holes in one category. Until now, astronomers have divided black holes into four different categories: stellar, giant, intermediate, and primary (micro). In other words, this number will be much higher when considered directly as a ‘black hole’.