Articles tagged with Black Holes
A new study suggests that neutrino flavor conversion plays a significant role in determining the fate of dying massive stars. The research found that neutrino behavior can alter the outcome of stars, particularly for those with masses between 16 and 30 solar masses, potentially explaining the supernova rate problem.
Researchers uncovered a universal rule governing the launching of jets by black holes, which are fired at the same critical juncture in their feeding cycles. This discovery has significant implications for understanding the evolution of host galaxies and allows for more efficient use of astronomical instruments.
A new study of nine nearby galaxies reveals that actively growing supermassive black holes may contribute to star formation, instead preventing it. The research found star-forming rings or arcs, cone-shaped regions of energized gas, and fast 'shocks' associated with black hole activity.
Researchers at Nagoya University have developed a method to detect hidden matter around black holes by analyzing changes in ringdown waves. The study found that hidden matter affects ringdown differently depending on its pressure arrangement around the black hole.
Researchers have reconstructed a collision that launched a runaway black hole, shedding light on galaxy mergers and gravitational wave observatories. The simulation revealed that the two black holes had to be spinning fast and misaligned, producing a recoil of nearly 1,000 km/s.
Astronomers have discovered the fastest star in the Milky Way, S301, orbiting the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at a speed of 25,000 km/s. The star's tight orbit takes just 8.7 years to complete and approaches the black hole at a mere 12 times the distance of Earth to the Sun.
Astronomers have discovered a new population of faint, rapidly fading remnant radio galaxies, revealing a shorter, more dynamic afterlife of black hole jets. The study found that these remnants are relatively young, with ages ranging from 8-42 million years, and span a wide range of evolutionary stages.
Astronomers have discovered the earliest known 'black hole star,' which may explain how billion-solar-mass black holes formed in the early Universe. The object, dubbed MoM-BH*-1, exhibits properties normally associated with stars, resolving a long-standing challenge in understanding mysterious 'little red dots'.
A team of astronomers has discovered an extremely bright and red spot in the early universe, which they believe is a mashup of a black hole and a star. The object, dubbed a 'black hole star,' would help solve the mystery of other mysterious 'little red dots' found in deep-space images.
A team of scientists, led by Wladimir Lyra at New Mexico State University, propose a new mechanism for forming massive planets around supermassive black holes. Computer simulations show how these planets can grow to sizes comparable to those of stars, potentially igniting nuclear fusion.
The study provides the largest, most uniform spectroscopic follow-up of X-ray sources ever assembled, capturing tens of thousands of X-ray-emitting galaxy clusters. It reveals that rapidly growing giant black holes were surprisingly common in the early Universe and more 'hidden' black holes have been uncovered.
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has released its 20th data set, featuring over three million spectra of stars and galaxies, as well as 18 new value-added catalogs. This release marks a significant expansion of the survey's efforts, integrating full all-sky panoptic spectroscopy across both hemispheres.
A team of researchers has discovered that supermassive black hole winds are 100 times more powerful than previously thought, carrying energy across 300,000 light-year distances. This finding demonstrates the explosive winds' impact on space beyond galaxies.
Astronomers at UNC-Chapel Hill have observed an extremely rare 'wandering' black hole located tens of thousands of light-years from the center of its galaxy. This discovery could reshape our understanding of how massive black holes move through the universe after galaxies collide.
Researchers used machine learning to identify seven rare quasar candidates from a list of 800,000 quasars. The discovery offers an opportunity to expand knowledge of how quasars and their host galaxies work, as well as understanding our own galaxy's evolution.
Researchers reveal that missing ordinary matter exists in diffuse clouds surrounding galaxy groups, extending beyond predicted distances. The findings suggest stronger and more violent star activity and black hole jets, pushing matter to larger scales.
Researchers from McGill and MIT used fast radio bursts and galaxy locations to map the distribution of missing matter, finding it surrounds galaxies and extends four million light-years from them. The discovery supports the idea that black hole jets and other energetic processes fling matter outside galaxies.
Scientists at UC Riverside developed a new method to help LIGO detect weaker gravitational-wave events by measuring heat-induced distortions in mirrors. The technique combines thermal imaging with existing wavefront measurements and computer models, enabling the observatory to improve its sensitivity and detect more distant events.
Researchers have produced a spatially resolved spectral-index map on event-horizon scales, determining the physical conditions of the plasma around the black hole. The study reveals a transition toward an optically thin emission regime at a distance of about 30 μas from the black hole.
Researchers analyze the 'ringdown' phase of black hole collisions to test Einstein's theory of General Relativity and uncover secrets about these mysterious objects. Future observatories may reveal fresh evidence for new physics and challenge current models.
A team of astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe gaseous filaments connecting a galaxy's hot atmosphere to its central supermassive black hole. The observations showed that gas flowed along these filaments and poured into a spinning disk, which feeds the SMBH.
Researchers at Penn State simplify black hole mergers by applying thermodynamic principles, achieving accurate predictions of the final remnant's mass and spin. The maximum entropy conjecture shows that the merging black holes' energy and angular momentum map onto those of a sequence of hypothetical remnants, reaching a maximum entropy...
A team of U of A astronomers helped an international research consortium discover the faintest and farthest quasars in the early universe, revealing new insights into supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. The discovery includes two record-breaking quasars with cosmic ages of about 670 million years.
Researchers have theoretically modelled Hawking radiation generation in a non-linear optical environment, identifying a simple direct mechanism. Experiments showed the radiation affects the system, opening up new ways to calculate effects and potentially shedding light on quantum gravity.
Researchers at Penn State have developed a new measure for entropy that is more closely tied to the black hole's physical properties of spin and energy. This allows them to extend the first and second laws of thermodynamics to dynamic black holes, enabling better understanding of their processes.
New study by University of Southampton confirms the universe's expansion is still accelerating as previously found, debunking 2025 claims that the cosmos was slowing. The team re-evaluated data using Type Ia supernovae to calculate vast cosmic distances and found no error in their methods.
Topological methods have become a robust testing ground in black hole physics, revealing distinctive topological attributes of diverse black hole solutions. The review summarizes recent work toward universal topological classifications of black holes, organizing them according to their global topological number and winding numbers.
The discovery reveals a surprisingly mature black hole at just 850 million years old, with an accretion disk resembling a flat pancake. This challenges the understanding of how supermassive black holes can grow and mature in a short amount of cosmic time.
New simulations show that a magnetic field can decrease the distance between forming binary protostars, explaining observed characteristics of Milky Way binary star systems. This process also gives insights into massive black hole evolution and merger formation.
Researchers have discovered the fastest wind near a supermassive black hole at ultraviolet wavelengths, driven by the quasar's surrounding matter disc. The wind's velocity is up to 30% the speed of light, making it unlike any hurricane on Earth.
Researchers have discovered the most distant dormant black hole yet detected, located over 10 billion light years away. The black hole's mass is approximately 6 billion times that of the sun, providing unprecedented insights into black holes in the early universe.
Astrophysicists at Northwestern University have discovered evidence of a powerful wind blowing from the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*. The study resolves one of the longest-standing mysteries in astronomy and opens a new window into the physics at play in the center of the Milky Way. The team used five yea...
A team of astronomers used JWST to detect the motion of stars near a galaxy's center affected by a dormant black hole's gravity. The findings suggest that densest galaxies were sites of rapid black hole growth early in cosmic history.
The study suggests that massive galaxies formed through violent mergers, leading to a rapid burst of star formation and the growth of supermassive black holes. This process prevented these galaxies from producing new stars for over a billion years, leaving them as quiescent galaxies.
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration has released a new catalog of gravitational-wave detections, revealing distinct sub-populations of merging black holes. These sub-populations are thought to arise from different formation pathways, including the collapse of gas clouds and hierarchical mergers between black holes.
Researchers from Vienna and Frankfurt have developed a mathematical formula describing critical collapse, where spacetime organizes into a regular structure that may form a black hole. This phenomenon is similar to the formation of ice crystals in liquid water.
Researchers developed a method to identify and catalogue quasinormal modes in black hole mergers, providing a systematic way to resolve ongoing debate. The technique detects fundamental 'notes', overtones, and nonlinear modes, enabling precise tests of general relativity.
Researchers at MIT and Europe create model predicting gravitational wave patterns from black holes in dark matter environments, detecting possible imprints on LVK data. The study offers a new way to screen gravitational-wave signals for hints of dark matter.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A study using the James Webb Space Telescope found that supermassive black holes can suppress star growth not only in their host galaxy but also in neighboring galaxies within a million-light-year radius. This discovery reveals a larger impact of quasars on galaxy evolution, contradicting previous assumptions.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.