More evidence has emerged that supermassive black holes wield influence far beyond the grasp of their gravity.

BLASTOFF. Illustration shows jets propelled from the vicinity of a black hole. M. Weiss/CXC, NASA

Five years ago, astronomers discovered that the core stars of a galaxy always weigh about 500 times as much as the galaxy’s supermassive black hole (SN: 1/22/05, p.