Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Sep 1, 2023

James Webb telescope reveals the universe may have far fewer active black holes than we thought

Every galaxy, including our own Milky Way, has a monster lurking in its heart — a supermassive black hole. Despite how common these gargantuan objects are, astronomers are still trying to figure out how the universe's supermassive black holes were born, and how they grew to their humongous sizes. Now,...

Sep 4, 2023

Black holes keep 'burping up' stars they destroyed years earlier, and astronomers don't know why

Up to half of the black holes that devour stars burp up their stellar remains years later. Astronomers made the discovery after spending years watching black holes involved in tidal disruption events (TDEs). TDEs occur when stars venture too close to black holes. These cosmic monsters' immense gravity exerts incredible...

Sep 7, 2023

Do black holes really suck in matter?

Despite a primary diet of gas and dust, black holes will consume anything that comes too close — meaning moons, planets and even stars are on the cosmic menu. But does this mean black holes greedily suck in everything around them, like cosmic vacuum cleaners, as commonly imagined? The answer...

Sep 7, 2023

For the 1st time, scientists accidentally measure the swirling ring around a black hole

For the first time ever, scientists have measured the exact size of the disk of matter swirling around a supermassive black hole. The serendipitous finding could help expand our knowledge of how these cosmic juggernauts grow and how the galaxies that surround them evolve over time. Accretion disks are massive...

Sep 13, 2023

The closest black holes to Earth may be lurking in a star cluster visible to the naked eye

The closest black holes to Earth may have just gotten trillions of miles closer. In new research published in the September issue of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, a team of astronomers delved into the cosmic history of a nearby family of stars called the Hyades...

Sep 14, 2023

New Horizon Prize in Physics awarded to scientists chasing mysterious black hole photon spheres

Two scientists have won a $100,000 prize for describing both the structure and a way to detect mysterious black hole photon spheres. These enigmatic structures form at the edges of black holes, and could reveal the underlying physics that govern the most extreme objects in the cosmos. Alexandru Lupsasca, of...

Sep 22, 2023

An ancient, ravenous black hole has been hiding an 11-billion-year-old galaxy in its glare

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers has used a tricky technique to discover an elusive 11-billion-year-old galaxy. Rather than observe the light this realm emits, they watched for the light it absorbs. Just as we see a light bulb via the light it emits, astronomers usually observe...

Sep 28, 2023

Scientists just proved that 'monster' black hole M87 is spinning — confirming Einstein’s relativity yet again

Astronomers have found the first direct evidence of a black hole spinning, and it's confirmed Einstein's theory of relativity yet again. The discovery was made by studying powerful jets of energy beamed from the solar system-size black hole at the center of the neighboring Messier 87 galaxy. The black hole,...

Oct 25, 2023

Scientists found a way for two black holes to orbit each other forever without colliding

Astronomers have long assumed that two black holes that circle close to each other are always destined to become one in a cataclysmic merger that spans eons. That needn't always be the case, new research finds. In a new study, physicists found that it is theoretically possible for two black...

Nov 8, 2023

Universe's oldest X-ray-spitting quasar could reveal how the biggest black holes were born

Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered the oldest and most distant X-ray-spitting quasar in the known universe, and it seems to be powered by the seed of an ancient supermassive black hole. Quasars are the bright hearts of active galaxies, which are...

Nov 13, 2023

Supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way is approaching the cosmic speed limit, dragging space-time along with it

The supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy isn't just spinning — it's doing so at almost maximum speed, dragging anything near it along for the ride. Physicists calculated the rotational speed of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, called Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), by using NASA's Chandra...

Nov 16, 2023

Brightest gamma-ray explosion of all time scrambled Earth's upper atmosphere

A powerful blast of gamma-rays that may have been the most powerful cosmic explosion since the Big Bang caused significant disturbance around Earth when it struck our planet, new research finds. The incredibly bright and long-lasting gamma-ray burst — dubbed the brightest of all time, or the BOAT, and officially...

Nov 17, 2023

1st black hole to be imaged is spewing 'lightsaber' energy jets larger than the Milky Way, and scientists think they know why

The mystery of how black holes can lose energy to their surroundings has plagued scientists for nearly 50 years. But a group of researchers may have just found the answer to this cosmic puzzle lurking in the gigantic, lightsaber-like jets that shoot out from one of the most monstrous and...

Nov 19, 2023

Space photo of the week: Battling black holes pull two galaxies apart

What it is: NGC 7727, the tangled aftermath of two spiral galaxies colliding. When it was taken: Oct. 25, 2023. Where it is: Between 73 million and 90 million light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. Where it was taken: Cerro Pachón mountain in Chile Why it's so special: The image...

Nov 28, 2023

Strange 'blob' circling Milky Way's central black hole is shooting powerful radiation at Earth every 76 minutes

Something near the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way has been firing regular blasts of high-energy gamma-rays toward Earth, and scientists may finally know what it is. In new non-peer-reviewed research posted to the preprint server arXiv, a duo of astrophysicists at the National Autonomous University...