Black Holes

A black hole is a location in space that possesses so much gravity, nothing can escape its pull, even light. Learn more about what black holes are and the latest news.

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A new animation visualizes the effects of two black holes orbiting each other. In this view, a supermassive black hole weighing 200 million times the mass of the sun lies in the foreground and its gravity distorts light from the accretion disk of a smaller companion black hole almost directly behind it.

Watch monster black holes dance in this mesmerizing NASA animation

By Samantha Mathewson

A stunning new animation from NASA shows the entrancing dance of two monster black holes in orbit around each other.

The region around the supermassive black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, as seen in radio, visible and X-ray wavelengths by the ALMA telescope array and NASA’s Hubble and Chandra space telescopes, respectively.

Scientists get more great looks at the 1st black hole ever photographed

By Mike Wall

The supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy M87 is coming into sharper and sharper focus.

artists impression of hubble double quasar

Hubble telescope finds rare double quasars in ancient galactic collisions

By Daisy Dobrijevic

NASA's long-serving Hubble Space Telescope is seeing double after detecting two rare pairs of quasars nestled within galactic collisions that occurred 10 billion years ago.

Dark matter could be made of black holes from the beginning of time

By Tom Metcalfe

Evidence of collisions between black holes and neutron stars suggests dark matter might consist of concentrations of primordial black holes.

A tiny crystal device could boost gravitational wave detectors to reveal the birth cries of black holes

By David Blair

In 2017, astronomers witnessed the birth of a black hole for the first time.

This artistic impression illustrates a new black hole that was discovered through gravitational lensing using light from an ancient cosmic explosion.

Explosion from the early universe illuminates secret black hole

By Chelsea Gohd

Light coming from an explosion in the early universe has illuminated a black hole that astronomers think could expand their understanding of how the celestial objects form.

Seeing the invisible: How Nobel laureate Andrea Ghez found the supermassive black hole in the Milky Way's center

By Meghan Bartels

Astrophysicist Andrea Ghez has spent her scientific career peering at the center of the Milky Way, trying to see the invisible.

Following the release of the first image of a black hole in 2019, astronomers have captured a new polarized view of the black hole.

First image of a black hole gets a polarizing update that sheds light on magnetic fields

By Chelsea Gohd

Galaxy J0437+2456 is thought to be home to a supermassive, moving black hole.

A supermassive black hole is speeding through space, and astronomers don't know why

By Ben Turner

A supermassive black hole is racing across the universe at 110,000 mph (177,000 km/h), and the astronomers who spotted it don't know why.

Astronomers have spotted a distant jet-shooting supermasive black hole known as PJ352-15 for short.

This jet from a monster black hole is so huge it dwarfs our Milky Way galaxy

By Elizabeth Howell

A space telescope might have spotted one of the most distant supermassive black holes spurting an X-ray jet.

Artist's illustration of Planet Nine, a world about 10 times more massive than Earth that may lie undiscovered in the far outer solar system.

What if Planet Nine is a baby black hole?

By Paul Sutter

The hypothetical Planet Nine may not be a planet but rather a small black hole that might be detectable from the theoretical radiation emitted from its edge, so-called Hawking radiation.

An artistic visualization of the quasar P172+18.

Scientists find most distant quasar shooting powerful radio jets

By Chelsea Gohd

A newly discovered quasar from the early universe is the most distant found to date that's shooting out powerful radio jets.

'Black holes' with Planck hearts would lack a true event horizon (like the one illustrated in this image).

Black holes could be dark stars with 'Planck hearts'

By Paul Sutter

Black holes may not be black or holes, a new theory proposes.

Artist's concept of a black hole in space.

Lab-grown black hole analog behaves just like Stephen Hawking said it would

By Tim Childers

Like mad scientists, researchers are creating miniature black holes in their laboratories. Their mission? To see if a mysterious form of radiation predicted by Stephen Hawking exists.

An artist's illustration of the accretion disk around the supermassive black hole in the galaxy 2MASX J20570298+1412165.

'Ghostly' neutrino from star-shredding black hole reveals cosmic particle accelerator of epic proportions

By Charles Q. Choi

A ghostly particle that smashed into Antarctica in 2019 has been traced back to a black hole tearing apart a star while acting like a giant cosmic particle accelerator, a new study finds.

An artist's depiction of the Cygnus X-1 black hole and its companion star.

Scientists revisit the 1st black hole they ever discovered and realize it's bigger than they thought

By Charles Q. Choi

New evidence suggests the first known black hole is bigger than previously thought, which may force scientists to reconsider their understanding of how giant stars give rise to black holes.

The globular cluster NGC 6397, as imaged by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

Scientists find clump of black holes inside the heart of globular cluster (video)

By Mike Wall

The globular cluster NGC 6397, a conglomeration of stars about 7,800 light-years from Earth, likely harbors a clump of small black holes at its heart, a new study reports.

The Event Horizon Telescope, a planet-scale array of ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration, captured this image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87.

'Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know' documentary dives into a historic photo 1st (exclusive video)

By Mike Wall

The upcoming documentary "Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know" explores the many meanings of black holes and the Event Horizon Telescope's pioneering photo. See a trailer for the film here.