How big can a black hole grow?

September 3, 2008 | Source: NewScientistSpace

Colossal black holes with a mass of up to 50 billion suns could be lurking out there, but that’s the limit, two astronomers have found.

The used the properties of X-rays and visible light emitted by matter as it is devoured by black holes to estimate a black hole’s mass and how quickly it is gobbling up its surroundings.