How does supermassive black hole differ from a black hole?

Question

Asher Cohen · Accepted Answer

Supermassive black holes are hugely massive and are only known to be at the centres of galaxies.

Three types of black holes exist: primordial black holes, which are roughly the size of atoms; stellar black holes, which are produced when stars collapse and have masses between five and tens of times that of the sun; and supermassive black holes, which have masses in the range of millions of times that of the sun. Black holes of the first two varieties can appear anywhere. On the other hand, supermassive black holes are found at the centers of galaxies; in fact, it is believed that the evolution of every galaxy depends on the presence of a supermassive black hole at its center. Smaller black holes cannot become the powerhouse of a quasar. One significant characteristic of a supermassive black hole is that, if it acquires an accretion disc of matter falling into it, the friction and gravitational stress on the material can cause massive emissions of energy known as quasars.

Clara Avalos · Answer

undefined Supermassive black holes are different from regular black holes mainly in two ways: they are found at the centers of galaxies, whereas regular black holes can form from the collapse of massive stars and are scattered throughout galaxies; supermassive black holes can have masses millions to billions of times that of the Sun, whereas regular black holes usually have masses only a few times that of the Sun.