SUNSET: 
Infant Stars Huddle near Black Hole
A team of astronomers has found signs of small stars forming within a few light-years of the Milky Way’s central black hole.
LIGO Sees Smallest Black Hole Binary Yet
LIGO has detected another black hole merger, raising the tally to five.
The Star That Wouldn’t Die
Observations of a stellar explosion that refused to fade away have astronomers scratching their heads. What created the blast — and could it explain massive black holes?
Astronomers Decode a Black Hole Jet
Two telescopes — one on the ground and one in space — watched a black hole’s jet turn on, enabling astronomers to probe its origin.
2017 Nobel Goes to Gravitational Waves
Three American physicists have received the Nobel Prize in physics for their contributions to the discovery of gravitational waves.
Is There a Difference Between Starving and Feasting Black Holes?
A few decades ago, astronomers thought they had figured out how quasars operate. Now, a new study has thrown a wrench in the works.
First Black Holes Maybe Had Supersonic Help
Gas flows in the early universe may have kept clouds from collapsing too soon, enabling them to grow into massive black hole seeds.
Fourth Gravitational Wave Event Detected
Teaming up with LIGO, Europe’s Virgo detector has bagged its first gravitational waves. The three-observatory detection enabled scientists to better pinpoint the merging black holes’ location.
Supermassive Black Holes Discovered in Close Tango
Astronomers have found what could be the closest known pair of supermassive black holes detected via direct imaging, orbiting each other only a light-year apart.
Supermassive Black Holes Observed in Close Dance
Astronomers monitoring a tight pair of supermassive black holes have observed their orbital motion.
Ring Found Around a Galaxy’s “Hidden” Black Hole
A team of astronomers has taken a close look at a nearby galaxy — and discovered an unusual structure that sheds light on supermassive black holes’ relationships with their host galaxies.
LIGO Detects Third Black Hole Merger
Scientists with the gravitational-wave observatory announce another discovery, this time of a black hole merger twice as far away as previous detections.
Gravitational Waves Dethrone Supermassive Black Hole
Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole not sitting in its customary seat at the center of its galaxy. Gravitational waves from a recent merger may have ejected the black hole.
Stars Born in Galactic Wind
Astronomers have found newborn stars in gas pouring out of a galactic nucleus.
Swift Black Hole Winds May Shape Galaxy
Winds that charge away from supermassive black holes at a fraction of the speed of light have long been mysterious and even contentious. Now, new evidence sheds light on their origins.
Active Black Hole Encourages Starbirth
Astronomers have discovered long filaments of cold gas — the ingredient for making stars — cocooning giant bubbles inflated by a black hole.
Best Evidence Yet for an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole
An intermediate-mass black hole might be lurking within a dense stellar cluster — a discovery that could point toward how these oddities form.
Black Hole Feeds on Star for a Decade
Unlucky stars serve as brilliant but short-lived snacks when they wander too close to supermassive black holes. But one such black hole is still gnawing on its stellar meal after a decade.
Mystery Object in Cygnus A Galaxy
Astronomers have discovered an object in the active galaxy Cygnus A that wasn’t there before.
Milky Way’s Black Hole Is Throwing Cosmic Spitballs
Every now and then, the Milky Way’s central, supermassive black hole tears apart a star and flings away some of its innards. Now astronomers think they know how to spot these cosmic spitballs.
