A2261-BCG (short for Abell 2261

Brightest Cluster Galaxy A brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) is defined as the brightest galaxy in a cluster of galaxies. BCGs include the most massive galaxies in the universe. They are generally elliptical galaxies which lie close to the geometric and kinematical center ...

) is a huge elliptical galaxy in the cluster Abell 2261. One of the largest galaxies known, A2261-BCG is estimated to have a diameter of a million light-years, some 10 times larger than the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

. It is the brightest and the most massive galaxy in the cluster, and has one of the largest galactic cores ever observed, spanning more than 10,000 light-years. Yet, unusually, its center does not contain a

supermassive black hole A supermassive black hole (SMBH or sometimes SBH) is the largest type of black hole, with its mass being on the order of hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun (). Black holes are a class of astronomical obj ...

. The cD elliptical galaxy, located at least 3 billion light-years from Earth, is also well known as a radio source. Its core is highly populated by a dense number of old stars, but is mysteriously diffuse, giving it a large core. On September 10, 2012, using

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...

's Wide Field Camera 3, scientists realized there was no

present in its center.

References

Elliptical galaxies Hercules (constellation) 1981854 {{Elliptical-galaxy-stub