black holes since very early Universe (that's what we reported today). Then the question is when do black holes do most of the growth, and then the answer is far away, about 1/3 to 1/2 of the age of the Universe ago. MissAshley: Is the reason the one at the center of our galaxy isn't "feeding" anymore because it's graviational reach only goes so far? Kevin: Yes, basically. There's no food in its immediate neighbourhood... atci: Is there a point where a black hole can become too large for itself? riyanatarajan: Yes, indeed, we currently believe that black holes eventually stunt their own growth. They cap how large they can get. This we think happens as once the black hole gets too large the X-rays emitted by the gas that in flowing in will be so energetic that they will expel all the remaining gas and essentially starve the hole. Jason (moderator): To learn more about supermassive blackholes, check out Chandra's field guide to supermassive black holes: http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/\\... me: shouldnt blackholes, after sucking in so much mass and energy, get unstable and explode or something of that sort? Ezequiel: Black holes are extremely stable... even if they keep "eating" they will be stable over the age of the Universe. Mr.Nice: how can light be emitted from a black hole if it sucks everything including light? Kevin: The light doesn't come from inside the black hole (that's impossible) but from the material falling into it while it's still outside the event