One-shot fast radio bursts may emerge from Milky Way-like galaxies, new...
For more than a decade now, astronomers have been puzzling over the origins of so-called fast radio bursts (FRB), which are fleeting yet energy-packed flashes of light in deep space. In fractions of a...
View ArticleUnusual glimpse of Cosmic Gems could be a breakthrough for astronomers
Several compact clusters of stars that formed near the Big Bang could provide a key insight into a little-understood time in the universe’s history. And we can only see them because of a quirk of...
View ArticleWhat are the chances of dark matter or a black hole ripping apart Earth?
What are the chances of dark matter or a black hole ripping apart Earth? Anthony RicoLexington, Kentucky Our planet is safe from being ripped apart by either a black hole or dark matter. The gravity...
View ArticleAstronomers say they’ve spotted the oldest, most distant black hole. How do...
It was recently in the news that astronomers spotted the oldest, most distant black hole since the Big Bang. How do they know it is the oldest and most distant? HeatherMazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico A...
View ArticleHubble spots likely intermediate-mass black hole in Omega Centauri
Black holes come in three weight classes: stellar-mass black, intermediate-mass black, and supermassive. While astronomers have definitively identified objects in the lightest and heaviest classes, the...
View ArticleWhat would happen if a tablespoonful of a neutron star was brought to Earth?
What if a tablespoonful of a neutron star was brought to Earth?Caroline Adams Portland, Oregon Before we can know what happens when our spoonful comes to Earth, let’s think about what’s in our spoon: a...
View ArticleHow merging black holes could reveal the nature of dark matter
We see evidence for merging supermassive black holes everywhere we look. One problem: We’re not exactly sure how they manage to do it. Recently, a team of astronomers has proposed that a particular...
View ArticleHow can a black hole pull light into itself if a photon is massless?
How can a black hole pull light into itself if a photon is massless? Dennis MurphyFort Bragg, California Photons are indeed massless, but they still travel through our universe. You can picture the...
View ArticleThe “Wow! Signal,” not surprisingly, was a dud
One of the most enduring mysteries in astronomy may have just been solved — and sorry folks, it’s not aliens. In a paper posted last month to the arXiv preprint server, a team of astronomers report...
View ArticleBlack hole caught blasting jets out into the cosmic void
Like a dragon breathing gouts of fire, a black hole in the distant universe is spewing plumes of energy into the cosmos, forming jets that span 23 million light-years. That’s 140 times the width of the...
View ArticleWhy weren’t astronomers sure that supermassive black holes could merge?
“The great hum” in the October 2023 issue states that astronomers weren’t sure that supermassive black holes in binary systems could close in on each other. I would assume that objects with such...
View ArticleBlackHoleFinder invites you to discover new black holes
Are you interested in making astronomical discoveries and contributing to the search for black holes? If your answer is “Absolutely,” then BlackHoleFinder is the perfect app for you. BlackHoleFinder,...
View ArticleXRISM’s data debut proves its extraordinary capabilities
The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) isn’t the first of its kind, but the state-of-the-art spectroscopic instruments onboard have opened new doors for high-energy astrophysics. Active...
View ArticleIs this black hole jet making stars explode?
Supernovae, the violent explosions that occur when stars die, normally happen sporadically within galaxies. However, by shifting the angle of the Hubble Space Telescope’s line of sight toward M87,...
View ArticleAstronomers find a mini black hole
Astronomers have discovered a lightweight black hole that’s a bit of a cosmic conundrum. Hypothetically, black hole masses can range all the way from far less than a paperclip to at least tens of...
View ArticleThis famous black hole system is actually a triple
Despite their destructive forces, black holes are often seen in with a companion, such as a star, neutron star, white dwarf, or even another black hole. However, a study published Oct. 23 in Nature has...
View ArticleCould black holes create dark energy?
Black holes are the universe’s shadowy figures, with many millions of them roaming unseen in our galaxy alone. These cosmic heavyweights famously destroy anything that wanders too close, tearing stars...
View ArticleHow some black holes maintain long-distance relationships
The European Space Agency’s Gaia emission has revealed two unexpected black holes orbiting stars like our own Sun. One minor problem: we’re not exactly sure how black holes like this should form. But a...
View ArticleJWST just found a black hole starving its host galaxy to death
Astronomer Francesco D’Eugenio wasn’t looking for a murdered galaxy. His team set out to measure the motions of stars in a distant galaxy and to understand why they appeared so old. Similar massive...
View ArticleThis black hole is gulping material 40 times faster than the theoretical limit
For decades, astronomers have puzzled over how the supermassive black holes residing in the center of galaxies form. Now, researchers may have found the biggest clue yet to how these monstrous objects...
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