Black holes

Latest about Black holes

A view towards the black hole in an X-ray binary and the X-rays we see that are reflected from the inner surface of the powerful outflow surrounding the hole.

Why is mystery object Cygnus X-3 so bright? Astronomers may now have the answer

By Keith Cooper published

The X-ray-emitting binary system Cygnus X-3 features a massive Wolf-Rayet star donating matter to a compact object, probably a black hole.

Black Holes
orange concentric circles around blue concentric circles intersected by white jagged line with blue spheres against a black background

This impossibly massive black hole wasn't very hungry during the dawn of time

By Robert Lea published

The James Webb Space Telescope saw a supermassive black hole that wasn't overfeeding when time began, deepening the mystery of how black hole grew so massive so quickly.

Black Holes
A glowing red and orange disk with a black circle at its center and blue streaks coming from it.

Supermassive black hole winds blowing at 36 million miles per hour can sculpt entire galaxies

By Robert Lea published

Astronomers have measured supermassive black hole winds that existed when the universe was less than 3 billion years old, showing how these cosmic titans shape galaxies.

Black Holes
An illustration of a purple and gray disk of gas and dust. In the center, a swirling jet protrudes upward.

Magnetic vortices may help feed supermassive black holes. Here's how

By Keith Cooper published

A spinning magnetic wind blows from supermassive black holes, paving the way for more matter to fall into them, scientists say.

Black Holes
a misty, dark yellow disc of gas hangs in hazy space, circling a small pin of light at its center.

A massive black hole may be 'waking up' in a nearby galaxy

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

Astronomers have, for the first time, spotted a black hole in a nearby galaxy waking up from a deep slumber.

Black Holes
This illustration depicts two quasars in the process of merging. Using both the Gemini North telescope and the Subaru Telescope, a team of astronomers have discovered a pair of merging quasars seen only 900 million years after the Big Bang. Not only is this the most distant pair of merging quasars ever found, but also the first confirmed pair found in the period of the universe known as cosmic dawn.

How 2 quasars at the dawn of time could be a Rosetta stone for the early universe

By Keith Cooper published

The two active supermassive black holes are the most distant pair of quasars ever seen and shed more light on how the universe transformed into what it is today.

Black Holes
dark orange and brown gas swirls in a disk around a black orb, which spews bright red gas upward. to its left, a smaller black point shoots a light gas upward too.

At the heart of this distant galaxy lies not 1, but 2 jet-blasting black holes

By Keith Cooper published

The two black holes at the heart of the galaxy OJ 287 are true behemoths with masses of 18.35 billion and 150 million times the mass of our Sun.

Black Holes
A spacey expanse that fades from starry black on the left to gaseous blue on the right half. A white square captures a small purple star on the left. White lines extend from the bottom corners to an image in the bottom left of yellow and red gas circling a black spot that shoots white light up and down.

12 billion years of black hole history, revealed through X-rays and simulations

By Keith Cooper published

New findings show the black hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy had a late growth spurt.

Black Holes
An burnt orange background with one large dark square and three smaller dark squares all containing blue glows

NASA telescope spots 'cosmic fireworks' and faint echos from the Milky Way's supermassive black hole

By Robert Lea published

NASA's NuSTAR telescope found evidence of cosmic fireworks and X-ray echoes coming from the Milky Way's supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*.

Black Holes
A golden swirl with yellow light emerging from its center

Hubble Telescope maps high-speed 'burps' from nearby feeding supermassive black hole for 1st time

By Robert Lea published

Hubble has mapped the outflow "burps" of a nearby feeding supermassive black hole-powered quasar for the first time, measuring speeds of 6.5 million mph, around 8,500 times the speed of sound.

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