Black Hole

The closest black hole to Earth is only 1,000 light years away, astronomers have discovered, as they reveal its stars are visible to the naked eye in a clear night sky. Located in a system called HR 6819, in the constellation Telescopium, the hole is so close to our planet that…

Black holes might be black, but they are not necessarily invisible. They come in a variety of sizes, from minuscule to supermassive, with a key common feature: a boundary known as the event horizon, beyond which light cannot escape. Black holes near an object such as a star, however, can…

VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) in Cerro Paranal, Chile. Photo: Y. Beletsky (LCO)/ESOAstronomers and physicists continue to pursue the answers to the universe’s deepest questions, but on many matters, including dark matter and dark energy, they are stymied. What if an autonomously operating telescope, free from human…

The “cosmic censorship” hypothesis says they shouldn’t exist—but is it possible that we’ve already detected them and misinterpreted their nature?Simulation of a supermassive black hole. Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Coe, J. Anderson, and R. van der Marel (STScI) Black holes are hidden behind event horizons, and just as in…

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope may be retired, but the things it witnessed during its sixteen and a half year mission will be the subject of study for many years to come. For instance, Spitzer is the only telescope to witness something truly astounding occurring at the center of the distant…

101 Comments Facebook Twitter RSS Feed print Comments Larry Niven would be pleased May 1, 2020 at 1:17 pm   Hide Replies 1 Considering that he wrote about the idea more than once a half century ago. I'm more impressed by Mike Brown's reasoning, see his TED talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UZKME9WP9M #…

"because we come from nothing" Enjoy this wonderful short animated film by Paul Trillo, based on the words of Alan Watts. "Until There Was Nothing" ...or "How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Black Hole" Someday this will pass and there will be nothing left. The inevitable spaghettification…

Image: Cradle GamesHellpoint wears its influences on its sleeves. It’s obvious that Canadian developer Cradle Games knew what it wanted to make—Dark Souls in space—and set out to do just that. I recently had the chance to try a preview version of Hellpoint on Xbox One, and while I often…

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionArtwork of OJ 287: The smaller black hole punches through the accretion disc twice every 12 yearsAstronomers have been able to test key consequences of Einstein's theories by studying the way a couple of black holes move around each other.One of these…

Black holes aren't stationary in space; in fact, they can be quite active in their movements. But because they are completely dark and can't be observed directly, they're not easy to study. Scientists have finally figured out the precise timing of a complicated dance between two enormous black holes, revealing…