Black Holes
Articles tagged with Black Holes
A new way to spot signs of dark matter
Biggest black holes built up in busy star clusters after series of violent merging events, research finds
The most massive black holes detected by gravitational waves were formed through repeated and violent collision events in densely populated star clusters. The study identifies two distinct populations, with high-mass systems showing rapid spins and a signature consistent with cluster mergers.
Little red dots: New clues from the early universe
Astronomers used TACC supercomputers to develop models of Little Red Dot formation, finding better agreement with Direct Collapse Black Hole theories. Researchers also analyzed JWST data using a 'genetic technique' to understand the history of these enigmatic cosmic objects.
Dark matter could explain earliest supermassive black holes
A study led by University of California, Riverside graduate student Yash Aggarwal suggests that dark matter decays could have seeded the direct collapse of galaxies into giant black holes. The research found that a window of dark matter masses between 24 and 27 electronvolts could produce conditions for black hole formation.
‘The beacons were lit!’ A system to detect and map merging black holes
A team of astrophysicists has developed a detection system that uses gravitational waves to map out the locations of merging black holes. The new protocol demonstrated by NANOGrav offers a vital way to explore and understand the universe, similar to how X-rays and radio waves did in earlier eras.
Oval orbit casts new light on black hole - neutron star mergers
Researchers analyzed gravitational-wave data from LIGO and Virgo detectors, revealing an oval orbit just before merger, which is unlikely according to theoretical models. The study corrects underestimated black hole mass and overestimated neutron star mass, suggesting a birthplace in an environment with many interacting stars.
New catalog more than doubles the number of gravitational-wave detections made by LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA observatories
The latest catalog more than doubles the number of gravitational-wave detections made by LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA observatories, revealing a kaleidoscope of cosmic collisions. The LVK's Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog-4.0 comprises 128 new detections from a nine-month period.
Cosmic predators: How supermassive black holes slow star growth in nearby galaxies
Caught in the act: Astronomers watch a vanishing star turn into a black hole
Researchers discovered a star in the Andromeda Galaxy that vanished without going supernova, instead collapsing directly into a black hole. The team's analysis revealed the process of stellar collapse and provided evidence for convection's role in shaping a black hole's outer layers.
New method could reveal hidden supermassive black hole binaries
Researchers propose a new way to observe tightly bound supermassive black hole binaries using gravitational lensing and starlight. The method could reveal key properties of the underlying black hole binary, including masses and orbital evolution.
Scientists find a black hole spewing more energy than the Death Star
Researchers have been tracking the unusual astronomical event for four years and predict that the energy will peak in 2027. The black hole's emission has increased exponentially, reaching 50 times its original brightness.
'Dark matter, not a black hole, could power Milky Way's heart'
Researchers propose an alternative explanation for the galactic centre: an enormous clump of mysterious dark matter exerting gravitational influence. The model also explains the galaxy's large-scale rotation and predicts a unique cosmic structure.
Did we just see a black hole explode? Physicists at UMass Amherst think so—and it could explain (almost) everything
A team of physicists at UMass Amherst has proposed a new model for black holes, the 'dark charge' model, which explains high-energy neutrinos and solves cosmic mysteries. The model suggests that quasi-extremal primordial black holes, with a 'dark charge,' could be the missing link in explaining the universe's fundamental nature.
Massive black hole mystery unlocked by Irish researchers
Researchers at Maynooth University found that chaotic conditions in the early Universe triggered the rapid growth of smaller black holes into super-massive behemoths. This breakthrough resolves a long-standing puzzle, suggesting that 'garden variety' stellar mass black holes can grow at extreme rates.
Theory-breaking extremely fast-growing black hole
A team of astronomers has discovered a supermassive black hole with extreme growth rates, contradicting current models. The black hole is emitting bright X-rays and radio waves, hinting at unknown physical mechanisms. This finding provides a rare glimpse into time-variable black hole growth in the early Universe.
'Reborn' black hole spotted 'erupting like cosmic volcano'
Astronomers have captured a vivid portrait of a 'reborn' black hole, likened to the eruption of a 'cosmic volcano', in the radio galaxy J1007+3540. The black hole's newly ignited jets are being bent and distorted by the massive galaxy cluster environment.
Copenhagen researchers make the front page of Nature: Solving the mystery of the universe's ‘little red dots’
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have explained the mysterious 'red dots' seen in James Webb Space Telescope images as young black holes. The discovery provides insight into how the universe's first black holes were born and sheds light on their early development.
Born in brightness, leading to darkness
Researchers at Kyoto University observe a peculiar supernova explosion, SN 2022esa, which reveals the birth of a black hole binary. The study provides new direction for understanding massive star evolution and black hole formation.
‘Death by a thousand cuts’: Young galaxy ran out of fuel as black hole choked off supplies
Astronomers have spotted an ancient galaxy that was slowly starved of fuel by a supermassive black hole. The galaxy's lack of cold gas prevented it from forming new stars, despite its relatively young age. Repeated episodes of heating and gas removal by the black hole likely drained the galaxy's fuel in as little as 16-220 million years.
The Cosmic Seesaw: Black holes eject material as winds or jets, but not both at once
Astronomers have discovered that black holes don't just consume matter — they manage it. Researchers found that black hole binary systems switch between powerful jets and energetic winds—never producing both simultaneously—and both types of outflows carry away comparable amounts of mass and energy.
The Milky Way’s black hole is hiding an explosive past, evidence suggests
Evidence suggests Sagittarius A* flared dramatically within the past few hundred to 1,000 years, according to X-ray emissions observed by XRISM. The findings unveil new details of supermassive black hole evolution and provide lessons about our cosmic home.
Earliest, hottest galaxy cluster gas on record could change our cosmological models
Researchers have found a galaxy cluster with scorching hot gas just 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang, five times hotter than predicted, and containing three supermassive black holes that pumped energy into the surroundings. This discovery could upend current models of galaxy cluster formation and evolution.
World-leading scientists to join forces to create the first ever 3D black hole movies
Researchers will use revolutionary technology to transform understanding of extreme environments, revealing how black holes behave and evolve. The project aims to deliver dynamic gravitational tomography, creating 3D movies showing plasma flows around black holes.
Colliding galaxies create the brightest, fastest growing black holes at their center
Scientists have found that active galactic nuclei are two to six times more common in merging galaxies than non-merging counterparts. Galaxy mergers were most strongly associated with bright, dust-cloaked supermassive black holes linked to rapid growth.
Astronomers challenge 50-year-old quasar law
New research reveals the structure of matter surrounding supermassive black holes has changed over cosmic time, challenging a fundamental assumption about their behavior. The study combines new X-ray observations to explore the relation between X-ray and ultraviolet light intensity of an unprecedentedly large sample of quasars.
Flaring black hole whips up ultra-fast winds
Astronomers discovered a never-seen-before blast from a supermassive black hole, whipping up powerful winds at 60,000 km per second. The event was triggered by an X-ray flare and formed in just one day, providing new insights into the magnetism of active galactic nuclei (AGNs).
The monster hiding in plain sight: JWST reveals cosmic shapeshifter in the early universe
Astronomers discover galaxy Virgil with dual personality – ordinary in visible light but harboring massive black hole. JWST observations reveal hidden nature of Virgil, challenging current models of black hole formation.
Gemini and Blanco telescopes unlock clues to origin of longest gamma-ray burst ever observed
A team of astronomers used multiple NSF NOIRLab facilities, including Gemini and Blanco telescopes, to study the longest gamma-ray burst ever witnessed. Analysis revealed that the event likely originated from a relativistic jet crashing into the surrounding material in a massive, extremely dusty galaxy.
Record-breaking cosmic explosion challenges astronomers’ understanding of gamma-ray bursts
Astronomers have observed a record-breaking gamma-ray burst that lasted nearly seven hours, challenging existing models for these events. The burst's unusual duration and properties suggest multiple possible causes, including the collapse of a massive star or the collision of exotic stellar remnants.
Decoding dark matter’s imprint on black-hole gravitational waves
Researchers at the University of Amsterdam developed a new model to track dark matter's effect on black holes' gravitational waves. The study focuses on extreme mass-ratio inspirals, where a smaller object orbits a massive black hole, emitting gravitational waves that can reveal dark matter's distribution around black holes.
How Ramanujan’s formulae for pi connect to modern high energy physics
Physicists discovered connections between Ramanujan's formulae for pi and fundamental physics theories like conformal field theories. The formulas, developed in the early 20th century, yield efficient calculations for phenomena like turbulence and black holes.
Groundbreaking simulations show how black holes glow bright
Groundbreaking simulations reveal how black holes create dazzling light shows by material zipping around them. The results could help explain hundreds of faintly luminous objects spotted in the early universe.
Scholars achieve groundbreaking calculations of luminous black hole accretion
Researchers developed a comprehensive model of luminous black hole accretion, including radiation flows and interactions with surrounding gas. Their simulations reproduce consistent behaviors across various black hole systems, providing insight into extreme nonlinear processes.
UH astronomers decode a star’s secret past
Astronomers detected faint 'starquakes' in the companion star of Gaia BH2, allowing them to measure its core properties with remarkable precision. The star's makeup contradicts its age, suggesting it acquired extra mass from a companion through a merger.
A new angle of study for unveiling black hole secrets
Scientists use XL-Calibur telescope to measure polarization of light around Cygnus X-1 black hole, gaining insights into matter's fall and energy release. The observations will be used to test computer simulations and shed light on black hole physics.
LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA complete the richest observation run to date
The international collaboration has detected a significant fraction of gravitational signals, constituting two-thirds of approximately 350 signals detected to date. The analysis of the data has led to numerous new discoveries and a deeper understanding of compact binary systems and fundamental physical processes in the universe.
New evidence from GW230814 confirms the black-hole area law
A research team at the Purple Mountain Observatory confirms Stephen Hawking's prediction that a black hole's horizon area cannot shrink when two black holes merge. The analysis of GW230814 shows strong support for the black-hole area law, validating general relativity in extreme astrophysical environments.
Mysterious ‘impossible’ merger of two massive black holes explained
Astrophysicists used simulations to uncover the missing piece that previous studies had overlooked: magnetic fields. They found that strong magnetic fields can slow down a black hole and carry away some of its stellar mass, creating lighter and more slowly spinning black holes.
Are there different types of black holes? New method puts Einstein to the test
Physicists compare black hole shadow images to alternative theories of gravity, showing differences in extreme cosmic objects. High-resolution measurements could test Einstein's theory and confirm or refute exotic possibilities.
Watching a black hole flicker in time
Researchers developed a simulation method to model rotating regular black holes, which naturally show time-varying patterns of light and shadow. This breakthrough enables faster exploration of different black hole configurations without requiring delicate tuning.
Pair of distinct black hole mergers reveals details on how they form and evolve
Two distant black hole mergers, measured one month apart in 2024, provide insights into the nature and evolution of deep-space collisions. The mergers validate fundamental laws of physics predicted by Einstein and furthers the search for new elementary particles with potential to extract energy from black holes.
Astronomers detect radio signals from a black hole tearing apart a star – outside a galactic center
A team of astronomers has discovered the first tidal disruption event producing bright radio emission outside the center of a galaxy. The event revealed the fastest-evolving radio emission ever observed from a black-hole-driven stellar disruption, suggesting delayed and complex processes in the aftermath of the disruption.
Scientists capture an image of two black holes circling each other for the first time
Astronomers have captured the first-ever radio image of two black holes orbiting each other at the centre of a quasar called OJ287. The observation confirms the existence of black hole pairs and provides insight into their orbital motion.
How black holes produce powerful relativistic jets
Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt used complex simulations to study the origin of powerful jets emitted by black holes. They discovered that magnetic reconnection is involved in extracting rotational energy and powering these jets.
Laboratory breakthrough recreating star formation mechanism wins prestigious John Dawson Award
A team of scientists from Princeton University and PPPL successfully recreated the star formation mechanism in a laboratory setting, validating astrophysical theory. The achievement marks over two decades of persistent effort and combines experimental ingenuity, theoretical insight, and advanced computational modeling.
Could a primordial black hole’s last burst explain a mysteriously energetic neutrino?
Recent detection of a record-setting neutrino may be the first evidence of Hawking radiation from a primordial black hole. If confirmed, it would indicate that PBHs make up most of dark matter in the universe.
XRISM uncovers a mystery in the cosmic winds of change
The XRISM mission reveals an unexpected difference between winds launching from a disc around a neutron star and those from material circling supermassive black holes. The surprisingly dense wind blowing from the stellar system challenges our understanding of how such winds form and drive change in their surroundings.
Even black holes have bad hair days
The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration unveils dynamic environment with changing polarization patterns near M87*'s supermassive black hole. The new images show how the environment around the black hole may be changing more than previously thought.
“Black Hole Stars” could solve JWST riddle of overly massive early galaxies
Recent JWST observations revealed a new population of astronomical objects, known as black hole stars, which are emitting light predominantly at longer wavelengths. These objects, located extremely far away, have raised questions about galaxy evolution and the formation of stars on a massive scale.
Hawking and Kerr black hole theories confirmed by gravitational wave
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration has detected GW250114, a clear gravitational wave signal confirming two long-standing theories. The study validates Professor Stephen Hawking's prediction that the total event horizon area of black holes cannot shrink and confirms the Kerr nature of black holes.
Clearest signal yet from colliding black holes yields most precise confirmation of Hawking’s area theorem
The LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Collaboration has used the sharpest gravitational wave signal to precisely test Hawking's area theorem and confirm the remnant black hole's nature. The detection confirms that the surface area of the remnant increased, consistent with Hawking's prediction.
Ten years later, LIGO is a black-hole hunting machine
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has made a significant milestone in its 10-year history, detecting over 300 black hole mergers and surpassing previous records. The improved sensitivity of LIGO's detectors allows for the detection of fainter sources, enabling scientists to test fundamental laws of physics.
Ringing black hole confirms Einstein and Hawking’s predictions
A newly detected black hole merger has provided the clearest evidence yet of how black holes work, confirming fundamental predictions by Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. The observations reveal insights into the properties of black holes and the nature of space-time, hinting at how quantum physics and general relativity fit together.
An exploding black hole could reveal the foundations of the universe
A team of physicists at UMass Amherst propose that we may soon observe an exploding primordial black hole, which could reveal the foundations of the universe and provide a definitive catalog of subatomic particles. This explosion would give us insight into the formation of black holes and the universe's primordial conditions shortly af...
Hungry star is eating its cosmic twin at rate never seen before
Astronomers discovered a greedy white dwarf star consuming its closest celestial companion at an unprecedented rate. The study found that the super-dense white dwarf is burning brightly due to the mass transfer between the two stars, potentially leading to a massive explosion visible from Earth.
Using exoplanets to study dark matter
Researchers propose that Jupiter-sized exoplanets may accumulate and collapse into detectable black holes due to dark matter. This process could potentially generate multiple black holes in a single exoplanet's lifetime, making exoplanet surveys a promising method for hunting superheavy dark matter particles.
Dark energy filled black holes plus DESI data give neutrino masses that make sense
The study finds that dark energy's influence on the universe is changing over cosmic time, which can be understood as a signal of matter being converted into dark energy. The data also provides evidence for neutrinos having mass greater than zero, improving previous interpretations.
Are they star clusters or extreme dwarf galaxies?
A team of astrophysicists from the University of Bonn and Iran has reclassified Ursa Major III as a compact star cluster containing a black hole core. Simulations suggest that the object's high mass-to-light ratio can be explained by the presence of dark stars rather than dark matter.
An interstellar mission to a black hole? Astrophysicist thinks it’s possible.
An interstellar mission to test astrophysical black holes is proposed by Cosimo Bambi, harnessing nanocrafts and laser beams to gather data on nearby black holes. The mission aims to answer pressing questions in physics, including the nature of event horizons and general relativity.