Astronomers have detected a mid-infrared flare from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy for the very first time, and it’s shedding new light on the complex physics driving these energetic outbursts.

The universe could be home to far more supermassive black holes than we realised, according to new research. Astronomers from the University of Southampton say that 35% of these galactic giants - some which are billions of times heavier than the sun - have gone undiscovered because they are obscured by thick clouds of gas and dust.

Researchers found far more hidden black holes than previously known, indicating plenty of behemoths lurking in thick clouds of gas and dust.

For years, the estimated number of hidden supermassive black holes hovered around 15 percent. This still means tens if not hundreds of billions in the visible universe. New work estimates that the number of supermassive black holes so entrenched in dust and gas that no X-ray light can escape is around 35 percent,

A new study suggests more supermassive black holes may be lurking in the universe than previously thought. Astronomers from the University of Southampton have discovered that 35 per cent of these enormous entities—some of which are billions of times heavier than the sun—remain undetected.