black hole

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Milky Way's Center Is a Black Hole 'Farm'

Researchers believe there are thousands

(Newser) - The center of our galaxy is teeming with black holes, sort of like a Times Square for strange super-gravity objects, astronomers have discovered. For decades, scientists theorized that circling in the center of galaxies, including ours, were lots of stellar black holes, collapsed giant stars where the gravity is so...

Scientists Detect 2nd Gravitational Wave From Crashing Black Holes

A crucial second note heard in soundtrack of chaotic cosmos

(Newser) - Astronomers say they've heard the echoes of two more crashing black holes—a discovery that hints that the unseen violence of the universe may be pretty common, the AP reports. They detected a second gravitational wave. That's the warp in the fabric in the cosmos that Albert Einstein...

Rumors of a Massive Physics Discovery Swirl

'Probably a shoo-in for this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics'

(Newser) - Rarely does a tweet not involving a Kardashian or a cat stir up such a swell of excitement. On Monday, physicist Lawrence Krauss tweeted that scientists may have discovered gravitational waves, phenomena first predicted by Albert Einstein more than 100 years ago but never observed, Gizmodo reports. "If true...

Hawking's New Theory: 'There Are No Black Holes'

He addresses conflicting theories of physics

(Newser) - Stephen Hawking helped develop current theories on black holes—but now, he's saying there aren't any. New Scientist explains his thinking, focusing on what's known in physics as the "firewall paradox," which deals with a black hole's event horizon. That's an "invisible...

Secrets of Mysterious Black Hole Jets Revealed
Secrets of Mysterious
Black Hole Jets Revealed
NEW STUDY

Secrets of Mysterious Black Hole Jets Revealed

Jets have power to spew iron and nickel, study finds

(Newser) - For years, astronomers have wondered what exactly black holes spew into our universe—and now they know. Iron and nickel have been found shooting from the relativistic jets of a black hole several times larger than our sun, but the finding is more surprising than it may seem. It shows...

NASA Spots Nearby 'Young' Black Hole

Could it be a gateway to another universe?

(Newser) - NASA has spotted what appears to be the galaxy's newest black hole—and it's relatively nearby. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory has spotted the aftermath of a super nova that, from Earth's vantage point, is just 1,000 years old, the agency reports . (Of course, it's 26,...

Massive Black Hole Stumps Scientists

Its mass equals 17B suns, turning previous theory on its head

(Newser) - An enormous, newly discovered black hole has scientists questioning what they thought they knew about black holes to begin with. Usually, supermassive black holes make up about 0.1% of the mass of the stars at a galaxy's center, known as a stellar bulge. But in this case, the...

Strange New Kind of Galaxy Spotted

Infrared survey uncovers 'menagerie of hidden objects'

(Newser) - After two years of scanning the night sky, NASA's WISE infrared telescope has spotted millions of supermassive black holes and a type of galaxy never seen before. The hot, dust-obscured galaxies—hot DOGs—are very rare. Each emits as much light as 100 trillion suns, hidden behind a vast...

NASA's 2-Year Hunt for Black Holes Starts Today

NASA's NuStar scheduled to launch from South Pacific

(Newser) - Barring any mishaps, a refrigerator-size telescope will begin its two-year quest to track down black holes today. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuStar) is set to rocket into space from an island located between Hawaii and Australia, reports the AP . Once it gets some 350 miles above Earth, it will...

Coming Soon: First-Ever Picture of a Black Hole

It will take an array of 50 telescopes to spot its shadow

(Newser) - How do you photograph a black hole, which is normally invisible due to the fact that its gravity is so intense it pulls in even light ? You probably won't be surprised to hear that it's never been done before—and that to do it for the first...

Local Black Hole About to Chow Down

Milky Way's super-massive black hole to devour gas cloud

(Newser) - The super-massive black hole at the heart of our galaxy is about to have a feast—and astronomers think it's going to be messy. A giant gas cloud has been spotted approaching the black hole, which lies some 27,000 light years from Earth. Scientists believe the cloud will...

Vast New Black Holes Shatter Record

They're 10 times the size of our solar system

(Newser) - Ready to have your mind boggled by the awe-inspiring scale of cosmological phenomena? Well boggle away: Astronomers have discovered two black holes bigger than any glimpsed before, with one weighing in as much as 21 billion suns, the New York Times reports. The other clocks in at a mere 9....

Astronomers Catch Black Hole Swallowing Star

It's the first time they've witnessed the phenomenon as it happens

(Newser) - While scientists have seen the aftermath of stars ripped apart by black holes before, they say they've finally seen the galactic violence in the act for the first time, reports the LA Times . The Earth-orbiting Swift observatory noticed an unusual radiation spike coming from a constellation 4.5 billion...

Black Hole Spotted Feasting on Passing Star

Gamma-ray burst leads astronomers to 'feeding frenzy'

(Newser) - The super massive black hole at the heart of a galaxy in the Draco constellation has been caught in the middle of a meal—and it's a messy eater. Scientists analyzing an unusually long-lasting burst of gamma rays from the constellation 4 billion light years away believe they are...

NASA: Nearby Black Hole Is Enormous
NASA: Nearby Black Hole
Is Enormous
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

NASA: Nearby Black Hole Is Enormous

M87 is bigger than six billion suns

(Newser) - NASA has taken new measurements of a black hole that’s just one galaxy over—and the results are staggering. The black hole, known as M87, is so big that you could fit roughly 6.6 billion of our suns inside it. Black holes that huge are a rare find,...

Black Hole 'Hurled' From Galaxy

Object with the mass of a billion suns spotted moving at high speed

(Newser) - Astronomers believe they have spotted a supermassive black hole being flung out of its galaxy. Supermassive black holes—which have a mass roughly a billion times that of the sun—are usually found at the center of galaxies, but this one is traveling away from the core of its galaxy...

Monster Black Hole Sucking Up Space

(Newser) - A monstrous black hole near the center of a distant galaxy is sucking up stars, gas and dust, and spitting out baby stars, NASA scientists have discovered. The black hole is 100 million times the mass of the sun, reports the Telegraph. It lies at the center of a galaxy...

Space Blob Stumps Scientists
 Space Blob Stumps Scientists

Space Blob Stumps Scientists

Cosmic blob from the dawn of time confounds theories on early universe

(Newser) - A gigantic blob at the edge of the universe is forcing scientists to rethink their ideas on how galaxies form, reports the BBC. The radiation-emitting object 12.9 billion light years away is one of the most distant—and consequently oldest—things ever seen by astronomers, and is much bigger...

Scientists Say Black Hole Lies at Center of Galaxy

Stars orbit around central nucleus 4M times heavier than sun

(Newser) - A giant black hole sits at the core of our galaxy, say astronomers who participated in a 16-year German study that monitored the movements of 28 stars circling the center of the Milky Way. “Beyond any reasonable doubt,” the stars orbit a core concentration of mass 4 million...

Hawking To Retire From Cambridge Post

(Newser) - Stephen Hawking will retire from his chair at Cambridge University at the end of this academic year, the Telegraph reports. But the esteemed physicist will continue working at the college in an emeritus position. Cambridge requires profs to step down when they reach 67, and Hawking’s birthday is in...

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