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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.

Related Topics: Dark Matter, The Big Bang Theory, Gravitational Waves, The Theory of Relativity in Space 

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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..

A simulated image of a black hole.

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.

Artist's conception of a wormhole.

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.

black holes collision

The same black hole can collide with its kin multiple times, lopsided merger suggests

By Meghan Bartels

For black holes, a collision doesn't have to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, new research suggests.

gravitational waves black holes neutron stars collisions

Gravitational waves point scientists to elusive missing-link black hole

By Meghan Bartels

A new sound has joined the symphony of the universe as we hear it.

An artist's illustration of two black holes merging and creating ripples in spacetime known as gravitational waves.

Hunting for medium-sized black holes with the next generation of gravitational wave detectors

By Paul Sutter

Some patience will be needed.

An artist's representation of the microquasar SS 433 beating in unison with the gas cloud known as Fermi J1913+0515.

Mysterious gamma-ray 'heartbeat' detected from cosmic gas cloud

By Samantha Mathewson

A cosmic gas cloud has a mysterious gamma-ray "heartbeat" that appears to be in sync with a neighboring black hole.

If wormholes exist, scientists may one day spot black holes falling into them, a new study suggests.

What happens if black holes fall into wormholes? A new way to find out.

By Charles Q. Choi

Astronomers might detect black holes falling into wormholes via ripples in space and time called gravitational waves, a new study finds.

Light curves around a black hole's event horizon

Thousands of Earthlike 'blanets' might circle the Milky Way's central black hole

By Rafi Letzter

Tens of thousands of planets like Earth and Neptune might orbit the giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

This illustration (left) depicts a supermassive black hole shrouded by a dust and gas "cocoon." Using X-ray imagery, as depicted in the X-ray image (right), scientists have uncovered 28 supermassive black holes.

Mistaken identity? Researchers uncover true nature of monster black holes

By Chelsea Gohd

Over two dozen misidentified supermassive black holes have finally been revealed in a new, sky-scanning study.

An artist's depiction of a typical feeding black hole as a star falls prey to the massive object.The streak of debris falling toward the disk is what remains of a star that was torn apart by the black hole's gravity.

The mystery of a black hole's disappearing (and reappearing) meal may be solved

By Meghan Bartels

What does it mean when a black hole suddenly stops gobbling up gas completely — and then just as suddenly starts again, hungrier than ever?

A simulated image of two black holes colliding.

Are there any black holes left over from the Big Bang?

By Paul Sutter

What would a universe flooded with primordial black holes look like?

Artist's conception of accretion flares resulting from the encounter of an Oort-cloud comet and a hypothesized black hole in the outer solar system.

Is 'Planet Nine' actually a grapefruit-sized black hole? Big new telescope could find out

By Mike Wall

A coming sky survey will help test a wild idea — that a grapefruit-sized black hole lurks undiscovered in the outer solar system.

The NANOGrav project is attempting to detect gravitational waves via the close observation of an array of pulsars.

This new, super-accurate way to pinpoint our solar system's center may help spot monster black hole crashes

By Mike Wall

Astronomers have found a way to pinpoint our solar system's center of mass to within a mere 330 feet (100 meters), a recent study reports.

Certain discoveries made using data gathered by telescope facilities atop Maunakea, like the International Gemini Observatory, are now being given Hawaiian names to honor the site.

'The Goblin' dwarf planet and an ancient quasar receive Hawaiian names

By Meghan Bartels

Two incredibly strange celestial objects whose discoveries trace, in part, to observatories at the summit of Maunakea now carry the peak with them in official names inspired by Hawaiian culture.