Astronomers have found compelling evidence for the closest known supermassive black hole outside the Milky Way. This enormous black hole resides in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of our galaxy’s nearest neighbors.

The discovery was made by precisely tracking the motion of 21 stars located on the outskirts of the Milky Way. These stars are moving so rapidly that they will eventually escape the gravitational pull of the Milky Way and any nearby galaxies. Such stars are known as “hypervelocity” stars.

By analyzing their trajectories, much like forensic scientists tracing a bullet’s path, researchers were able to determine their origins. About half of the stars were found to have been ejected by the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The rest, however, appear to have been flung out by a different source: a previously undetected supermassive black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud.