New Research Suggests Millions of Planets Could Form Around Supermassive Black Holes
New research suggests that millions of planets could potentially form around supermassive black holes. Massive amounts of dust swirl around active nuclei at the centres of galaxies, and these discs could give rise to vast numbers of rocky planets. Some of these planets could even reach sizes comparable to stars.
The study examines the conditions within the dusty disks surrounding supermassive black holes, where sufficient material may exist for planetary formation to occur. While the environments around black holes are extreme, the conditions in the outer regions of these accretion disks could be stable enough to allow planet formation over astronomical timescales.
This finding expands our understanding of where planets might form in the universe, suggesting that the neighbourhoods around supermassive black holes could be more hospitable to planetary systems than previously thought. Further observations and modeling will be needed to confirm these predictions.