Black Hole

Using the MUSE and FORS2 instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have spotted a group of six galaxies around SDSS J1030+0524, a quasar powered by a one billion solar mass black hole. The light from this large web-like structure has traveled to us from a time when the…

When I read this article about how one in five Canadians were found to be "cynical spreaders" of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, I was disappointed and disheartened. Angus-Reid found that "cynical spreaders" are flaunting public health rules at significant rates and participating in activities known to be risky in spreading COVID-19, such…

Numerical simulation of two black holes that inspiral and merge, emitting gravitational waves. The black holes have large and nearly equal masses, with one only 3% more massive than the other. The simulated gravitational wave signal is consistent with the observation made by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors…

Astronomers using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) have detected plasma jets coming from a supermassive black hole in the central galaxy of the Phoenix cluster, a huge group of galaxies located 5.9 billion light-years away in the constellation of Phoenix. An artist’s impression of plasma jets coming from a…

Scientists using NASA’s Fermi space telescope have spotted a distant galaxy that looks strangely familiar. The galaxy has the appearance of a TIE Fighter, a famous and fictional ship from Star Wars. At a distance of 500 million light-years, there’s little chance we’d ever visit, but it still looks cool…

Using the Subaru Telescope and W. M. Keck and Gemini observatories, astronomers have spotted three dual quasars — merging galaxy systems that have two supermassive black holes on a collision course with each other. SDSS J141637.44+003352.2, a dual quasar at a distance for which the light reaching us was emitted…

Some of the most perplexing topics in physics revolve around quantum theory. The quandary is seen most famously in the Schrödinger’s cat question and the issue of information loss in black hole evaporation. Richard Feynman said, “I think that I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.” Most physicists have just…

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a glorious image of a galaxy with a very unusual shape. The so-called “Meathook galaxy” was home to a large supernova explosion that was observed just a few years ago.  Hubble continues to snap incredible images of the cosmos despite now being in service…

Quasars—accreting supermassive black holes—are paradoxically some of the brightest objects in the universe. Astronomers widely consider the energy from quasars to be the main driver in limiting the growth of massive galaxies. Scientists plan to use Webb to study the impact of three carefully selected quasars on their host galaxies…

Astronomers have observed cold, dense and high-velocity molecular gas outflowing from the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. The presence of this gas is puzzling, because neither Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole in the Milky Way’s center, at its current level of activity nor star formation in the inner…