An illustration shows a black hole being stripped of its resident galactic material. Photo by Bill Saxton/NRAO/AUI/NSF.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Supermassive black holes are usually hidden away at the center of galaxies. But researchers at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory have discovered a black hole surrounded by relatively little galactic material. It's nearly naked, they say.

According to a new paper published in the Astrophysical Journal, the black hole's home galaxy was stripped of material by a close encounter with a much larger galaxy.

What's left of the black hole's galactic clothing stretches just 3,000 light-years across. The Milky Way, for comparison, is 100,000 light-years across.

The unmasked black hole is surprising, not just for its limited galactic insulation, but because the black hole is fleeing the close encounter at a speed of 2,000 miles per second -- still intact.

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