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.

Latest Updates

Bumblebee gravity could be proven true if scientists find that a black hole’s shadow is smaller than existing physics theories would predict.

'Bumblebee gravity' could explain why the universe is expanding so quickly

By Paul Sutter

Bumblebee gravity could explain dark energy — if it's proven true.

This artistic visualization shows J0313-1806, the most distant (and therefore earliest) quasar ever found.

The most distant quasar ever found is hiding a seriously supermassive black hole

By Chelsea Gohd

Scientists have found the most distant quasar yet known — and it's home to a seriously supermassive black hole.

The Event Horizon Telescope, a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes, captured this image of the supermassive black hole and its shadow that's in the center of the galaxy M87.

Are primordial black holes really giant gravitinos?

By Paul Sutter

New research proposes that the first black holes came from clumps of gravitinos, exotic, hypothetical particles that managed to survive the first chaotic years of the Big Bang.

This illustration shows a black hole emitting jets of fast-moving plasma above and below it, as matter swirls around in an orbiting disk.

Did the Milky Way's huge black hole kill all the red giants around it?

By Paul Sutter

A massive jet launched from our galaxy's supermassive black hole may have destroyed any red giant stars that wandered into its path, a new study suggests.

This composite image of the galaxy cluster Abell 2261 contains optical data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Japan's Subaru Telescope showing galaxies in the cluster and in the background, and data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory showing hot gas (colored pink) pervading the cluster. The middle of the image shows the large elliptical galaxy in the center of the cluster.

A giant black hole keeps evading detection and scientists can't explain it

By Mike Wall

The big galaxy at the core of the cluster Abell 2261 should harbor a supermassive black hole that weighs as much as 3 billion to 100 billion suns. But astronomers can't find it.

This computer simulation shows supermassive black holes only 40 orbits from merging.

10 huge black hole findings from 2020

By Adam Mann

Here, we take a look at some of the most spectacular black hole findings of 2020.

Swarms of 'primordial' black holes might fill our universe

By Rafi Letzter

Dangerous 'naked' black holes could be hiding in the universe

By Paul Sutter

Black holes shorn of event horizons could lurk throughout the universe.

A diagram shows mergers of black holes and neutron stars observed by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors.

Gravitational-wave treasure trove reveals dozens of black hole crashes

By Meghan Bartels

Scientists can now catch gravitational waves better than ever before.

What happens at the center of a black hole?

By Paul Sutter

At the center of a black hole, matter is compressed down to an infinitely tiny point, and all conceptions of time and space completely break down.

The first ever direct image of a black hole, with yellow ring surrounding black circle

Physicists keep trying to break the rules of gravity but this supermassive black hole just said 'no'

By Rafi Letzter

A new test of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity has proved the 20th Century physicist right again, this time using a supermassive black hole.

An artist's depiction of a supermassive black hole with a web of galaxies trapped in its orbit.

'Spider's web' traps six galaxies around supermassive black hole

By Elizabeth Howell

Six galaxies were trapped in orbit around a supermassive black hole during the early history of the universe, new observations reveal.

An artist's illustration of a star's death by "spaghettification" as it is ripped to shreds by a supermassive black hole. Scientists using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope has spotted such an event.

Black hole kills star by 'spaghettification' as telescopes watch

By Elizabeth Howell

an abstract representation of a magnetic field in blue lines

Black hole-sized magnetic fields could be created on Earth, study says

By Stephanie Pappas

The magnetic fields are more than a thousand times stronger than the magnetic field used in MRI machines..

Nobel Prize in physics awarded to 3 scientists for their black hole discoveries

By Jeanna Bryner

The Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to three scientists for their work involving one of the cosmos's most mysterious, darkest, secrets — black holes.

Are some black holes wormholes in disguise? Gamma-ray blasts may shed clues.

By Charles Q. Choi

Unusual flashes of gamma rays could reveal that what appear to be giant black holes are actually huge wormholes, a new study finds.

The Event Horizon Telescope, a planet-scale array of ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration, captured this landmark image of the supermassive black hole and its shadow that's in the center of the galaxy M87.

Surprise! The ring around M87 galaxy's monster black hole wobbles over time.

By Mike Wall

The first black hole to be imaged directly is giving up even more of its secrets.

An artist's impression of the supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy. Scientists suspect some monster black holes could grow to truly 'stupendous' sizes.

'Stupendously large' black holes could grow to truly monstrous sizes

By Charles Q. Choi

A team of scientists now suggests black holes could reach what they call "stupendously large" sizes, each harboring the mass of 100 billion suns or more.