1–20 of 224 results
An artist’s impression of the collision of two black holes

Black Holes

Black Hole Rain

The planned LISA gravitational-wave detector might discover a shower of hundreds of small black holes falling in galactic centers.

dark hole surrounded by hot disk of swirling gas and shooting out a jet from its rotation axis

Black Holes

Black Hole May Have Formed by Direct Collapse

Astronomers may have spotted a supermassive black hole in the early universe that formed when a gargantuan gas cloud imploded.

Hyades star cluster

Black Holes

Does the Hyades Star Cluster Harbor Black Holes?

The nearest black holes might be hiding just around the corner, 150 light-years away in the Hyades star cluster.

Galaxy field containing distant quasar and 10 equally distant galaxies

Black Holes

JWST Turns Its Eye on Supermassive Black Holes and the Galaxies That Host Them

The intrepid infrared explorer is offering astronomers a jump back in time, enabling them to see quasars at earlier times than ever before.

X-ray image of galactic center

Black Holes

Milky Way's Central Black Hole Flared 200 Years Ago

A glowing molecular cloud shines today because of a 200-year-old flare let out by our galaxy’s supermassive black hole, scientists say.

Illustration of a supermassive black hole binary system

Black Holes

Gravitational Waves from Supermassive Black Holes Revealed

Radio observatories across the globe have found compelling evidence for the existence of very-low-frequency gravitational waves.

Artist's impression of AGN

Black Holes

Even Lonely Black Holes Need to Eat

Astronomers have found supermassive black holes in smaller galaxies are actually more likely to light up when they’re isolated in vast, cosmic voids.

OJ 287 binary black hole

Black Holes

Signal Found from Supermassive Duo's Second Black Hole

Astronomers have long suspected that a distant quasar harbors not one but two supermassive black holes. They've now detected OJ 287's second black hole.

The center of a globular cluster with hundreds of thousands of stars colored red white and blue

Black Holes

Does This Star Cluster Host a Black Hole in Its Core?

The well-known star cluster Messier 4 might have an elusive, midsize black hole hidden at its center, but the evidence isn’t conclusive yet.

Galaxies

“Rogue Black Hole” Could Be Something Much Simpler

An unusual streak of stars thought to have formed in the wake of a wandering supermassive black hole might just be a spiral galaxy seen edge-on.

bright dot with stream with bright edges and mostly empty interior shooting out from it, with a zoom on the bright dot showing it's a ring

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

First Image of Black Hole Shadow and Jet Together

For the first time, astronomers have seen how the big plasma jet shot out by a supermassive black hole connects to the material falling into the black hole.

two glowing orange rings, one thick, one thin

Black Holes

The First Black Hole Image, Take Two

A new analysis of Event Horizon Telescope data sharpens our view of the glowing gas encircling the black hole.

A pair of bright AGN couple at the center of two merged galaxies

Black Holes

Massive Black Hole Duo Spotted at Cosmic Noon

The most distant pair of supermassive black holes discovered offers a unique insight into how galaxies merge.

X7 spaghettifying

Black Holes

Watch the Milky Way’s Black Hole Spaghettify a Cloud

Two decades of observations show a dusty gas cloud elongating as it approaches our galaxy's supermassive black hole.

Runaway black hole (art)

Black Holes

Have Scientists Found a Rogue Supermassive Black Hole?

An unusual stellar streak emerging from a distant galaxy might be a sign of a runaway supermassive black hole, scientists suggest.

Image of Milky Way's black hole shows golden ring with three spots in it

Black Holes

Searching for the Seeds of Supermassive Black Holes

The seeds of supermassive black holes could show up in an upcoming sky survey with JWST.

Gravitational waves from GW190521

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

The Challenge of Weird Black Hole Mergers

When spacetime shivers last only a fraction of a second — as in the case of the massive-black-hole merger GW190521 — astronomers struggle to uncover their origins.

Blazar (art)

Black Holes

X-rays Offer View Inside the Black Hole-Powered Plasma Guns

Polarized X-rays are helping astronomers take a closer look at blazars’ “plasma guns,” the particle jets powered by supermassive black holes.

Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3) up close

Explore the Night with Bob King

Sneak Peek at Two Promising Comets

Ready to chase comets? We look at two fuzzy solar system travelers that will keep you on your toes all fall and winter long.

torn-apart star's innards spiral around black hole

Black Holes

Shredded Star Reveals a Dwarf Galaxy’s Central Black Hole

A luminous flare provides astronomers with a rare opportunity to measure the mass of an otherwise quiescent black hole at the center of a dwarf galaxy.

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