NGC 4395 Black Hole size and scale context

The black hole in NGC 4395 powers an active galactic nucleus inside a small bulgeless galaxy. Its existence helped show that a galaxy does not need a large central bulge to host a feeding central black hole. Read its scale context, comparisons, and journey links on the canonical object page.

NeptuneIce giant planet·49,528 km

UranusIce giant planet·50,724 km

NGC 4395 Black HoleIntermediate-mass black hole·59,000 km

SaturnGas giant planet·116,460 km

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Planets

Uranus

Uranus is an ice giant that rotates tipped over on its side, with its spin axis tilted by about 98 degrees. That extreme tilt makes its seasons unlike any other planet’s, leaving each pole pointed toward the Sun for decades at a time during its 84-year orbit.

Scale fact50,724 kmdiameter

Object class: Ice giant planet
Mass: ~14.5 Earth masses
Host: Sun
Estimated age: ~4.5 billion years
Composition: Hydrogen, helium, water-ammonia-methane ices
Temperature: ~76 K cloud tops

Black holes

NGC 4395 Black Hole

Scale fact59,000 kmevent horizon diameter

Object class: Intermediate-mass black hole
Host: NGC 4395
Mass: ~10,000 solar masses

Planets

Saturn

Saturn is a gas giant best known for its bright ring system, but the planet itself is also the least dense world in the Solar System. Its average density is lower than water, and its layered atmosphere is driven by powerful winds and storms beneath the rings that dominate its silhouette.

Scale fact116,460 kmdiameter

Object class: Gas giant planet
Mass: ~95 Earth masses
Host: Sun
Estimated age: ~4.5 billion years
Composition: Hydrogen and helium
Temperature: ~134 K cloud tops