Black holes
Latest about Black holes
Some black holes have a 'heartbeat' — and astronomers may finally know why
By Paul Sutter published
A tiny fraction of known black holes emit X-ray signals that resemble a human "heartbeat." Now, new research may finally explain the strange phenomenon.
Supermassive black holes have masses of more than a million suns – but their growth has slowed as the universe aged
By Fan Zou, W. Niel Brandt published
What happens if you throw a star at a black hole? Things get messy (video)
By Robert Lea published
Supermassive black holes that shred and devour stars throw them up like a "bad curry" and cover themselves in the wreckage, sick new simulations reveal.
How do supermassive black holes 'starve' their galaxies to halt star formation?
By Robert Lea published
The "deaths" of galaxies are caused by their central supermassive black holes, and the "smoking gun" evidence of this connection takes an unexpected form.
Astronomers find black hole's favorite snack: 'The star appears to be living to die another day'
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
Astronomers have pinned down a faraway black hole's snack schedule after watching it devour a star across years.
Massive star's gory 'death by black hole' is the biggest and brightest event of its kind
By Robert Lea published
Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole violently shredding and devouring a star nine times as massive as the sun.
Small black holes could play 'hide-and-seek' with elusive supermassive black hole pairs
By Robert Lea published
Small pairs of binary black holes could be used to play hide-and-seek' with elusive supermassive black hole binaries via gravitational waves carry the "baritone singing" of these cosmic titans.
James Webb Space Telescope finds a shock near supermassive black hole (image)
By Robert Lea published
By examining a distant supermassive black hole, astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have found a shocking link between jets and dust around these cosmic titans.
Dark matter could play 'matchmaker' for supermassive black holes
By Robert Lea published
Dark matter could act as a cosmic matchmaker between dark matter and merging supermassive black holes, solving astronomy's "final parsec problem."
Scientists waited ages to find a 'missing link' black hole — then stumbled upon 2
By Robert Lea published
A missing link black hole that sits in the mass gap between stellar-mass black holes and supermassive black holes is "parked" right by the Milky Way's central black hole, Sagittarius A*.
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