how big is ton 618
TON 618 is unimaginably huge: the black hole at its center is estimated to be around 40–66 billion times the mass of the Sun, with an event horizon that would span light‑years across and easily engulf our entire solar system many times over.
How big is TON 618 in simple terms?
- TON 618 hosts one of the most massive known black holes, with estimates clustering around 66 billion solar masses.
- Its event horizon (the “point of no return”) is calculated to be on the order of tens of light‑years in diameter , meaning light itself would take years just to cross it.
- By size, its black hole would completely swallow the orbits of all the planets in our solar system and still have an enormous margin to spare.
A rough way to picture it: if our Sun were a single grain of sand, TON 618’s black hole would be like a mountain made of sand in comparison.
A few mind‑bending comparisons
- Compared to the Sun :
TON 618’s black hole is tens of billions of times more massive than the Sun.
- Compared to the Milky Way’s black hole (Sagittarius A)* :
TON 618 is over ten thousand times more massive than the black hole at the center of our own galaxy.
- Compared to the solar system :
Its event horizon would extend far beyond Neptune’s orbit; the whole planetary system would sit comfortably inside it.
Quick fact table (HTML as requested)
| Property | Approximate Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Hyperluminous quasar with a supermassive black hole | [8][3]An active galaxy core powered by a gigantic feeding black hole. |
| Black hole mass | ~40–66 billion times the Sun’s mass | [5][8][3][1]One of the most massive black holes ever identified. |
| Event horizon size | Tens of light‑years across (can engulf our whole solar system many times) | [1]Even light would need years to cross its diameter. |
| Distance from Earth | Comoving distance ≈ 18 billion light‑years | [8][3]We see it as it was in the very early universe. |
| Brightness | Hyperluminous; brighter than entire large galaxies | [5][3]Its accretion disk outshines billions of stars combined. |
Why people on forums talk about “how big is TON 618”
TON 618 has become a recurring topic in science YouTube videos, Reddit threads, and space forums because its numbers feel almost unreal for humans to grasp. People often compare it to stars like Stephenson 2‑18 or to the Milky Way’s black hole just to have any frame of reference at all.
When you see posts or memes saying “TON 618 breaks your brain,” that’s basically the point: it’s so large that even our normal cosmic comparisons start to fail. TL;DR: When you ask “how big is TON 618,” the practical answer is: so big it can swallow our entire solar system many times over, and it outmasses tens of billions of Suns.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.
