Black hole of mammoth proportions spinning at speed of light!

Most importantly, the black hole's spin gives clues to its past and by extension the evolution of its host galaxy.

The black hole's spin is a memory, a record, of the past history of the galaxy as a whole," Risaliti said in a statement.

Although the black hole in NGC 1365 is currently as massive as several million Suns, it was not born that big. It grew over billions of years by accreting stars and gas, and by merging with other black holes.

Spin results from a transfer of angular momentum, like playing on a children's swing. If you kick at random times while you swing, you will never get very high. But if you kick at the beginning of each downswing, you go higher and higher as you add angular momentum.