This Astonishing Image Reveals More Than 2,000 Black Holes In Deep Space

It's mind-bending.
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The X-ray below boasts the highest concentration of black holes ever seen. It shows 2,076, despite covering an area of space just two-thirds the size of a full moon.

If the X-ray covered all of the night sky, more than a billion black holes would be revealed. So why are they so tightly packed?

Well, this is the deepest X-ray ever taken. Never in the history of astronomy has a single image peered so far through space.

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NASA/CXC/Penn State/BLuo et al

The image was captured over 7 million seconds of observing time by NASA’s Chandra X-ray observatory.

The recorded data will provide an unprecedented insight into the formation of black holes over billions of years.

“By detecting X-rays from such distant galaxies, we’re learning more about the formation and evolution of stellar-mass and supermassive black holes in the early Universe,” said team member Fabio Vito, of Penn State.

“We’re looking back to times when black holes were in crucial phases of growth, similar to hungry infants and adolescents.”

Roughly seven in 10 of the objects in the new image are supermassive black holes, ranging from 100,000 to 10 billion times the mass of the sun. 

“By detecting X-rays from such distant galaxies, we’re learning more about the formation and evolution of stellar-mass and supermassive black holes in the early Universe,” said team member Fabio Vito, also of Penn State.

“We’re looking back to times when black holes were in crucial phases of growth, similar to hungry infants and adolescents.”

NASA’s best photos of 2016

NASA/Bill Ingalls
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NASA/Bill Ingalls
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NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 48 crew members NASA astronaut Jeff Williams Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan Kazakhstan on Wednesday Sept 7 2016Kazakh time
NASA/Bill Ingalls
In this long exposure photograph the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft is seen launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Friday Nov 18 2016
NASA/Joel Kowsky
The Soyuz MS-02 rocket is launched with Expedition 49 Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA and flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos Wednesday Oct 19 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft is rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Kazakhstan Monday July 4 2016
NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA astronaut Jeff Williams left Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos center and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos are seen inside the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft a few moments after they landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan Kazakhstan on Wednesday Sept 7 2016Kazakh time
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 48-49 crewmembers Kate Rubins of NASA Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA onboard Thursday July 7 2016 Kazakh time July 6 Eastern time Baikonur Kazakhstan
NASA/Bill Ingalls
In this 30 second exposure a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower Friday August 12 2016 in Spruce Knob West Virginia
NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
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NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Orbital ATK Antares rocket with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard launches from Pad-0A Monday Oct 17 2016 at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 49 crew members NASA astronaut Kate Rubins Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and astronaut Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA near the town of Zhezkazgan Kazakhstan on Sunday Oct 30 2016
NASA/Joel Kowsky
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NASA/Joel Kowsky
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NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Orbital ATK Antares rocket with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard launches from Pad-0A Monday Oct 17 2016 at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia