supermassive black hole

January 24, 2022

Black holes may do more than just destroy -- they may also create new things.

These annotated images, obtained with the GRAVITY instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) between March and July 2021, show stars orbiting very close to Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way. One of these stars, named S29, was observed as it was making its closest approach to the black hole at 13 billion kilometres, just 90 times the distance between the Sun and Earth. Another star, named S300, was detected for the first time in the new VLTI observations. To obtain the new images, the astronomers used a machine-learning technique, called Information Field Theory. They made a model of how the real sources may look, simulated how GRAVITY would see them, and compared this simulation with GRAVITY observations. This allowed them to find and track stars around Sagittarius A* with unparalleled depth and accuracy.

Astronomers zoom in on stars around Milky Way’s supermassive black hole

December 14, 2021

The new observations are 20 times closer and sharper than ever before.

What are Black Holes: The Journey From Theory to Reality

May 6, 2023

Black holes have firmly moved from the status of theoretical curiosity to physical reality. We follow that transformation and the ...

This artist’s impression shows how the distant quasar P172+18 and its radio jets may have looked. To date (early 2021), this is the most distant quasar with radio jets ever found and it was studied with the help of ESO’s Very Large Telescope. It is so distant that light from it has travelled for about 13 billion years to reach us: we see it as it was when the Universe was only about 780 million years old. (ESO)

Astronomers have discovered the most distant radio signal ever

March 8, 2021

Its source is a radio loud quasar blasting out jets when the universe was still in its infancy.

Astronomers found the oldest supermassive black hole — and they were puzzled by it

April 2, 2021

The giant black hole formed just 670 million years after the Big Bang.

The giant elliptical galaxy in the centre of this image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is the most massive and brightest member of the galaxy cluster Abell 2261. Astronomers refer to it as the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). Spanning a little over one million light-years, the galaxy is about 20 times the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers used Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 to measure the amount of starlight across the galaxy, catalogued as 2MASX J17222717+3207571 but more commonly called A2261-BCG (short for Abell 2261 brightest cluster galaxy). Abell 2261 is located three billion light-years away. The observations were taken between March and May 2011. The Abell 2261 cluster is part of a multi-wavelength survey called the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH).

NASA says a gargantuan supermassive black hole is somehow missing

April 2, 2021

The hunt is on for black hole with up 100 billion solar masses that is nowhere to be found.

Artist’s impression of star being tidally disrupted by a supermassive black hole

Death By Spaghettification! Astronomers Spot a Star Being Consumed by a Black Hole

October 12, 2020

This could solve the mystery of tidal disruption events or ‘spaghettification.’

With the help of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have found six galaxies lying around a supermassive black hole, the first time such a close grouping has been seen within the first billion years of the Universe. This artist’s impression shows the central black hole and the galaxies trapped in its gas web. The black hole, which together with the disc around it is known as quasar SDSS J103027.09+052455.0, shines brightly as it engulfs matter around it. (ESO/L. Calçada)

‘Cosmic Web’ of a Supermassive Black Hole Ensnares Six Galaxies

October 1, 2020

Astronomers have discovered a tremendous cosmic web in the early Universe. Trapped within its threads, six galaxies feeding gas to ...

The extreme eruption occurred in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster, which is located about 390 million light-years from Earth. Credit:: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Naval Research Lab/Giacintucci, S.; XMM:ESA/XMM; Radio: NCRA/TIFR/GMRTN; Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF.

Astronomers spot the largest explosion since the Big Bang

by Jordan Strickler

February 29, 2020

It was so big it punched a hole in space the size of 15 Milky Ways.

Artist’s conception of a dwarf galaxy, its shape distorted, most likely by a past interaction with another galaxy, and a massive black hole in its outskirts (pullout). The black hole is drawing in material that forms a rotating accretion disc and generates jets of material propelled outward. Image credit: Sophia Dagnello, NRAO/AUI/NSF

Astrophysicists find more evidence of ‘wandering’ black holes

January 22, 2020

New research has uncovered the presence of at least thirteen ‘wandering’ black holes in dwarf galaxies. Something, that until recently ...

An artist’s conception of two black holes entwined in a gravitational tango. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Christopher Go.

There may be a second black hole at the center of our galaxy

by Contributing Author

March 7, 2023

Astronomers think that the Milky Way's supermassive black hole may have a companion -- and that could teach us more ...

This is an artist's impression of planets orbiting a supermassive black hole. (Kagoshima University)

Planets could orbit Supermassive Black Holes

November 26, 2019

A new theory suggests that planets could form in dense dust and gas clouds surrounding supermassive black holes at the ...

An artist’s impression of S5-HVS1’s ejection by Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of the galaxy. The black hole and the captured binary partner to S5-HVS1 are seen far away in the left corner of the picture, while S5-HVS1 is in the foreground, speeding away from them. ( James Josephides (Swinburne Astronomy Productions))

Runaway star ejected from the centre of the Milky Way at incredible speed

November 19, 2019

Astronomers have identified a runaway star travelling at an incredible 6 million kilometres per hour, ejected by the supermassive black ...

This artist’s impression shows the path of the star S2 as it passes very close to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. As it gets close to the black hole the very strong gravitational field causes the colour of the star to shift slightly to the red, an effect of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. In this graphic the colour effect and size of the objects have been exaggerated for clarity.

The supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way just got very hungry

September 12, 2019

This big boy just got the munchies.

A UA-led team of scientists generated millions of different universes on a supercomputer, each of which obeyed different physical theories for how galaxies should form. (Image: NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz and the HFF Team/STScI)

Researchers simulate millions of virtual universes to study star formation

August 12, 2019

Two-thousand processors simulated more than 8 million universes and countless galaxies.

An artist visualization of the star S0–2 as it passes by the supermassive black hole at the Galactic centre. As the star gets closer to the supermassive black hole, light it emits experiences a gravitational redshift that is predicted by Einstein's General Relativity. By observing this redshift, we can test Einstein's theory of gravity (Nicole R. Fuller, National Science Foundation)

Einstein’s General Relativity passes the test at the centre of our Galaxy

July 26, 2019

A brave star and a supermassive black hole confirm Einstein's theory of general relativity.

The black hole at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*. Credit: J.Davelaar 2018.

Check this out: mind blowing Virtual Reality simulation of the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole

November 19, 2018

It's simply mesmerizing.

The final stage of a union between two galactic nuclei in the messy core of the merging galaxy NGC 6240. Credit: NASA, ESA, W. M. Keck Observatory, Pan-STARRS and M. Koss.

Supermassive black hole pairs imaged in merging galactic cores

November 8, 2018

The same should happen six billion years from now when the Milky Way merges with Andromeda.

Illustration of hot clumps of gas that orbit the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Credit: ESO/Gravity Consortium/L. Calçada.

Astronomers image plasma flares on the bleeding edge of Milky Way’s supermassive black hole

October 31, 2018

These flares should correspond to the point of no return for the Milky Way's supermassive black hole.

Artist impression of Tidal Disruption Event (TDE) in Arp 299. Background image is a Hubble Space Telescope image of Arp 299, a pair of colliding galaxies. Credit: Sophia Dagnello, NRAO/AUI/NSF; NASA, STScI.

Scientists directly image particle jet emitted by supermassive black hole devouring a star

June 15, 2018

It's the first time astronomers have achieved this feat.

Computer-simulated image of the black hole. Image credits: NASA, ESA, and D. Coe, J. Anderson, and R. van der Marel (STScI).

Astronomers discover the fastest-growing black hole we’ve ever known

May 18, 2018

It's the hungriest thing we've ever seen.

The map shows the total brightness and colour of stars observed by the ESA satellite in each portion of the sky between July 2014 and May 2016. Brighter regions indicate denser concentrations of especially bright stars, while darker regions correspond to patches of the sky where fewer bright stars are observed. Credit: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC).

Scientists complete most precise star map, revealing hidden details in our galaxy

April 25, 2018

An incredibly fruitful mission sheds new secrets about the Milky Way.

Astronomers are on the lookout for low-frequency gravitational waves generated by merging supermassive black holes

May 28, 2021

An ingenious technique could enable us to witness some of the strongest gravitational waves.

Artist impression of two supermassive black holes orbiting a common center of mass. Credit: Josh Valenzuela/UNM

Orbiting supermassive black holes confirmed by astronomers for the time

June 28, 2017

This is one slow dance.

This is the first in a sequence of two artist's impressions that shows a huge, massive sphere in the center of a galaxy, rather than a supermassive black hole. Image credits: Mark A. Garlick/CfA.

Nothing can escape a black hole’s clutch — and this proves Einstein’s Theory of Relativity (again)

May 31, 2017

Ready to sink your teeth into some black holes?

Picture showing the shadow of a black hole found at the center of galaxy M87. Credit: EHT Collaboration.

12 Physics-bending Facts about Black Holes

May 8, 2023

Chances are you won't come across anything weirder than a black hole. Here's the proof...

A supermassive black hole was ejected out of the distant galaxy 3C186 by the force of gravitational waves. Credit: NASA/ESA.

Supermassive black hole dislodged from its galactic throne travels at 5 million mph

March 27, 2017

In the aftermath of a titanic galactic battle, a merged black hole caused some waves.

Artist impression of a supermassive black hole in the making in close proximity to a protogalaxy. The picture depicts the simulation at redshift z=24 corresponding to about 140 million years after the Big Bang.

To birth supermassive black holes in the early universe, some galaxies may have had to be sacrificed

March 16, 2017

A new study offers an unorthodox explanation for how supermassive black hole formed in the early Universe.

This is a rendering of what a supermassive black hole seed should look like. Two candidate seeds as captured by Chandra (left) and Hubble (right) are featured in the inset boxes. Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

Supermassive blackholes are giants from birth

May 25, 2016

At the heart of virtually every galaxy, including the Milky Way, is a supermassive blackhole that's anywhere from hundreds of ...

A sky survey image of the massive galaxy NGC 1600, and a Hubble Space Telescope closeup of the bright center of the galaxy where the 17-billion-solar-mass black hole -- or binary black hole -- resides.
Credit: ESA/Hubble image courtesy of STScI.

Could supermassive black holes be lurking everywhere?

April 8, 2016

Astronomers have found a supermassive black hole in a completely unexpected area of space, a sparse area where massive galaxies ...

Two supermassive black holes set for a collision that will shake the cosmos itself

September 18, 2015

That's what I call fatal attraction: two supermassive black holes are "dancing", drawn together by each other's humongous gravitational attraction, ...

A montage of images showing an artist's concept of NuSTAR (top); a color image of one of the galaxies targeted by NuSTAR (lower left); and artist's concept of a hidden black hole.
Credits: Top: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Lower-left: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA. Bottom-right: NASA/ESA

Millions of supermassive black holes are hiding under thick blankets of dust and gas

July 7, 2015

Our Universe may be riddled with millions of supermassive black holes, a new study reports. The reason why we haven't ...

It's like winning the lottery - twice. Astronomers have spotted a rare cluster of four quasars—some of the brightest objects in the universe, formed from active black holes. Photograph by Hennawy and Arrigoni Battaia, MPIA.

Scientists discover extremely rare quadruple quasar system

May 15, 2015

A team of astronomers has discovered a unique system of quadruple quasars. The quartet, discovered at the very edge of ...

This is an artist's impression of a quasar with a supermassive black hole in the distant universe. Credit: Zhaoyu Li/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Misti Mountain Observatory

Newly discovered ancient Black hole is monstrously big for its age

February 25, 2015

Astronomers have discovered a humongous supermassive black hole that's 12 billion times as massive as the Sun. What's peculiar about ...

The teacup galaxy. Red/yellow shows the radio emission

Surprising Link Found Between Dark Matter and Black Holes

January 4, 2017

Dark matter and black holes are some of the most mysterious things in the Universe, so a connection between the ...

The center of the Milky Way galaxy, with the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), located in the middle, is revealed in these images. The large image contains X-rays from Chandra in blue and infrared emission from the Hubble Space Telescope in red and yellow. Credit: NASA

Mysterious object at the heart of Milky Way might be a Merged Star

November 16, 2020

A mysterious cosmic object thought to be an immense cloud of gas and dust left scientists scratching their heads after ...

When Galaxies Collide: Triple Black Hole System Discovered

June 26, 2014

Image Credits:NASA/CXC/UCLA/Z.LI AND NRAO/VLA Two decades ago, astronomers started to find evidence that almost all galaxies have a supermassive black ...

Scientists find double supermassive black hole

May 26, 2014

Astronomers have for the first time discovered a pair of supermassive black holes that orbit each other in an ordinary ...

Distant Black Hole Spins at Half the Speed of Light

April 21, 2014

Credits: X-RAY: NASA/CXC/UNIV OF MICHIGAN/R.C.REIS ET AL; OPTICAL: NASA/STSCI About half of the Universe's lifetime ago, it was feasting time ...

How to reseach black holes from the comfort of your couch

December 20, 2013

I think many of us wanted, at some point in our lives, to become astronauts. Unfortunately, not so many of ...

The stages of a collapsing supermassive star. Credit: Christian Reisswig/Caltech

Two black holes form from a single collapsing star

November 7, 2013

Black holes, the most massive objects in the Universe that we know of, which exert a gravitational force so big ...

This composite image combines observations using infrared light and X-ray light that see through the obscuring dust and reveal the intense activity near the galactic core.
IMAGE: X-RAY: NASA/CXC/UMASS/D. WANG ET AL.; OPTICAL: NASA/ESA/STSCI/D.WANG ET AL.; IR: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SSC/S.STOLOVY

Why our galaxy’s black hole has a small appetite

September 2, 2013

As we know by now, most galaxies, including our own, have a supermassive black hole at their center. However, the ...

At the heart of virtually every large galaxy lurks a supermassive black hole with a mass of a million to more than a billion times our Sun. Most of these black holes are dormant, but a few per cent are 'active' meaning that they are drawing material from their host galaxy inwards, This forms an accretion disc that feeds the black hole. Image credit: Wolfgang Steffen, Cosmovision

Why there’s supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way

October 25, 2017

At the heart of virtually every large galaxy lurks a supermassive black hole with a mass of a million to ...

Obese black holes outshone stars in earliest galaxies

June 7, 2013

Early galaxies were very different from those we see today - it was overgrown black holes, and not stars ...

Black-hole wakes up from slumber and feasts on super-Jupiter planet

April 3, 2013

Artist illustration of the supermassive black hole consuming on a substellar object. (C) ESA In an unexpected discovery, astronomers have ...

Artist's impression of a spinning supermassive black hole with a surrounding accretion disk and relativistic jets. (c) NASA/JPL

Supermassive black hole spin measured for first time – nears the speed of light

February 28, 2013

Artist's impression of a spinning supermassive black hole with a surrounding accretion disk and relativistic jets. (c) NASA/JPL Astronomers have ...

The region studied by Chandra. The bright point in the center is the burst caused by Sagittarius A*

Black hole at the center of our galaxy bursts out

November 8, 2012

As far as black holes go, Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way is ...

Astronomers capture light from first stars using bright galaxies

November 2, 2012

I gotta say, sometimes it absolutely baffles me to see the kind of complex studies astrophysicists do, and this is ...

Mini-supermassive black hole discovered by astronomers