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Because they emit nothing we can detect, there are many things about black holes we simply do not know. Amongst the most perplexing are supermassive black holes, millions to billions of times the mass of our Sun. Since black holes form from the cores of massive dead individual stars, how do supermassive behemoths grow so … Read more
The Universe is too heavy. According to our measurements of the normal matter in the Universe, there’s not nearly enough of it to account for the strength of the gravitational effects we can see. Whatever is making up the rest of the mass is nothing we can detect directly, and the quest to figure … Read more
In the heart of the Milky Way, stars tread a complex measure. Bound by the gravitational field of the supermassive black hole in the galactic center, Sagittarius A*, a group of stars known as S-stars swoop on wild, years-long orbits. These orbits were recently studied to measure Sgr A*, a result that won the scientists … Read more
A mysterious cloud that somehow survived a close encounter with a supermassive black hole has now been unmasked. According to a new study of the object, called G2, it’s actually three baby stars, shrouded in a thick cloud of the gas and dust from which they were born. This interpretation offers a very tidy solution … Read more
Two supermassive black holes have been discovered just 1600 light years apart, and they are likely to collide in about 250 million years Space 30 November 2021 By Leah Crane The two bright spots in this image are dense groups of stars, each with a supermassive black hole at the centre ESO/Voggel et al. A … Read more
The supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy periodically “burps” a “mini-jet” out into space. The Milky Way‘s supermassive black hole, known as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), is over 4 million times more massive than our sun. Its strong gravitational pull draws nearby stars and gas clouds into its accretion disk. … Read more