X-ray flashes from a nearby supermassive black hole accelerate ...
Jan 13, 2025 · The brief though dramatic shut-off was a first in black hole astronomy. Members of the MIT team have now caught the same black hole exhibiting more unprecedented behavior. The astronomers have detected flashes of X-rays coming from the black hole at a steadily increasing clip. Over a period of two years, the flashes, at millihertz frequencies ...
'It was very fortunate timing': Astronomers watch 1st black hole …
5 days ago · Astronomers have been puzzling over this black hole's behavior since 2018, when it began spewing such intense X-rays that pockets of ultrahot gas above and below its accretion disk, known as black ...
U of A astronomers capture unprecedented view of supermassive black …
4 days ago · As matter falls into these black holes, enormous amounts of energy are released, making active galactic nuclei, or AGN, one of the most energetic phenomena that can be observed in space. University of Arizona astronomers have now produced the sharpest direct images ever taken of an AGN in the infrared, using the Large Binocular Telescope ...
Astronomers observe X-ray flashes from a nearby supermassive black hole …
Jan 13, 2025 · Astronomers have observed unusual X-ray flashes from the supermassive black hole 1ES 1927+654, located 100 million light-years away. The frequency of these flashes increased from every 18 minutes ...
Astronomers observe real-time formation of bl | EurekAlert!
5 days ago · For many years, scientists had classified 1ES 1927+654 as an “active galactic nucleus,” or AGN, meaning it has an active black hole at its center. This particular black hole was adding ...
Astronomers investigate black hole jets with Event Horizon …
Jan 12, 2025 · Astronomers studying elusive supermassive black holes at the hearts of galaxies are intrigued not only by the cosmic behemoths themselves but also by the colossal jets they launch into space at...
What Are Black Holes? - NASA
Sep 8, 2020 · A black hole is an astronomical object with a gravitational pull so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape it. A black hole’s “surface,” called its event horizon, defines the boundary where the velocity needed to escape exceeds the speed of …
Astronomers watch a supermassive black hole awaken in real time
Jun 19, 2024 · Sudden brightness in a distant galaxy has caused astronomers to observe an unprecedented celestial sight: the awakening of a supermassive black hole.
Black Holes | Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Along with astronomers, physicists are interested in black holes because they’re a laboratory for “quantum gravity”. Black holes are described by Albert Einstein’s general relativity, which is our modern theory of gravity, but the other forces of nature are described by quantum physics.
Astronomers detect oldest black hole ever observed
Jan 17, 2024 · Researchers have discovered the oldest black hole ever observed, dating from the dawn of the universe, and found that it is ‘eating’ its host galaxy to death.