Live Science: UM Astrophysicist Quoted in Black Hole Article

“Impossibly Big Black Hole Was Probably Impossible After All”

By Rafi Letzter/Live Science 

Two weeks ago (Nov. 27), astronomers published a paper in the journal Nature claiming they’d found an impossibly gigantic black hole not too far from Earth. If they were correct, it would have been a major shock to astrophysics, upending theories of how and where such huge black holes form. But it looks like they were probably wrong.

“After it’s pointed out, it’s very easy to understand — it’s not something obscure, and I think most astronomers would understand the argument and agree,” Leo C. Stein, a University of Mississippi astrophysicist who also wasn’t involved in any of these papers, told Live Science.

He said that after seeing the new papers he’s “very skeptical” of the initial Nature paper’s claim about the black hole’s mass.