101–120 of 229 results
primordial black hole illo

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Could Dark Matter Be Black Holes?

Astronomers are reconsidering primordial black holes as an answer to the invisible matter mystery, but recent observations disfavor at least some sizes of black hole.

Sgr A*

Black Holes

Piercing the Veil of Our Black Hole

Astronomers have overcome the interference of clumpy interstellar gas to catch a glimpse of the gas around the Milky Way’s central black hole.

Quasar (art)

Black Holes

Astronomers Discover Most Distant Lensed Quasar

The most distant magnified quasar known promises to shed light on the universe's early years.

Artist's concept of MAXI J1820+070

Black Holes

How “Light Echoes” Revealed a Black Hole’s Feeding Habits

Astronomers are taking a cue from bats, using a method similar to echolocation to map out the feeding environment around a black hole.

hotspot around black hole

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Astronomers Use Annihilated Star to Clock Black Hole’s Spin

The glow of a star torn up by a supermassive black hole has enabled researchers to measure how fast the black hole whirls around.

3C 273

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Rotating Gas in a Quasar’s Heart

Astronomers have “imaged” gas as it orbits a supermassive black hole some 2 billion light-years away.

Illustration of black holes merging

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

What LIGO Teaches Us About Black Holes

The rising count of gravitational-wave events is giving us a new look at a once-invisible population of black holes.

Illustration of black holes merging

Black Holes

Gravitational-Wave Observatories Bag Four Black-Hole Collisions

A re-analysis of data from LIGO and Virgo brings the number of gravitational-wave detections to 11, including the most distant and most powerful black-hole merger yet discovered.

Black Holes

A Black Hole X-Ray Binary Rises

New observations have captured a feeding black hole in our galaxy as it bursts onto the scene.

hotspot near event horizon

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Gas Seen Moving Near the Event Horizon

Astronomers have detected three flares from near our galaxy’s central black hole that look like gas closely orbiting the unseen object.

Cygnus A in radio

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Odd Jets Might Signal Dual Black Holes

Off-kilter, curved, and otherwise unusual beams of plasma from galaxies’ cores might track the dueling dances of two supermassive black holes.

Still from simulation of two supermassive black holes merging

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Video: The Glow of Spiraling Black Holes

New calculations reveal what two supermassive black holes about to merge would look like in ultraviolet and X-rays.

Chandra COSMOS Legacy Survey

Black Holes

Middleweight Black Holes Provide Window to Early Universe

How did supermassive black holes form? Two studies discovered dozens of middling-mass black holes in dwarf galaxies to fuel an ongoing debate.

Black Holes

A Rapidly Spinning Black Hole with a Warped Disk

An X-ray telescope recently installed on the International Space Station has provided a detailed look at a black hole feeding off its companion star.

Stars orbit black hole

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Star Swings Around Black Hole, Tests Gravity

Astronomers have seen a star’s light redden as it passed our galaxy’s central black hole, just as general relativity predicts.

Black Holes

Scientists See Strong Evidence of Rare Middle-weight Black Hole

New observations give more fuel to the concept of intermediate-mass black holes.

tidal disruption event illustration

Black Holes

Black Hole Destroys Star and Shoots Jet

Astronomers have watched the growth of a jet fueled by a shredded star.

G2 en route to black hole

Stellar Science

More Mystery Objects in the Galactic Center

Astronomers have discovered three more red, dusty objects near the Milky Way’s central black hole that could be merged stars.

conceptual image of a black hole

Black Holes

Do Big Black Holes Wander the Galaxy?

New simulation work suggests that galaxies like the Milky Way could be home to a dozen supermassive black holes.

X-ray binaries around galactic center (art)

Milky Way

Our Galaxy's Center Might Hold Thousands of Black Holes

A new study has uncovered a dozen stellar-mass black holes within 3 light-years of the supermassive black hole at our galaxy’s core — and these might be just the tip of the iceberg.