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a dark circle with a spiral galaxy inside of it and spiral arms coming off it; the right side more detailed and colorful than the left

Black Holes

Black Holes in Early Universe Are Too Big

JWST observations of the universe as it was 12 to 13 billion years ago indicate that the black holes at the centers of small, early galaxies were more massive than expected.

dark hole surrounded by hot disk of swirling gas and shooting out a jet from its rotation axis

Black Holes

Black Hole May Have Formed by Direct Collapse

Astronomers may have spotted a supermassive black hole in the early universe that formed when a gargantuan gas cloud imploded.

Hyades star cluster

Black Holes

Does the Hyades Star Cluster Harbor Black Holes?

The nearest black holes might be hiding just around the corner, 150 light-years away in the Hyades star cluster.

supercomputer simulation shows gas flows in multiple colors

Black Holes

Where Did the First Quasars Come From?

New research shows how black holes with tens of thousands of Suns' worth of mass can form in the universe's early years.

diffuse glow surrounding a bright core

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Monstrous Black Holes Spin More Slowly — But Why?

X-ray observations add to growing evidence that the most massive black holes have a different past than their lightweight peers.

black hole surrounded by a glowing orange ring

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Astronomers Unveil Image of the Milky Way’s Central Black Hole

Using a worldwide array of telescopes, the Event Horizon Telescope team has given us our first look at Sagittarius A*.

The merger of a black-hole binary

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

10 New Merger Events in Gravitational-Wave Data

An independent team has found additional black hole mergers in LIGO data.

big, bright, bluish star surrounded by a disk and near a second big, bright bluish star

Black Holes

“Closest Black Hole” Doesn’t Exist, After All

Astronomers combined forces to confirm that a black hole proposed to lie a mere 1,000 light-years away isn’t really there.

Compact object emits jets and ring of light in artist's concept of a supernova dubbed

Stellar Science

Stellar Remnant at the Core of Mysterious Flash Dubbed "The Cow"

Astronomers have identified the origin of a mysterious flash that occurred three years ago.

Black hole in another galaxy (artist's illustration)

Stellar Science

Did Astronomers Spot a Black Hole in Another Galaxy? Maybe Not

Astronomers might have spotted a stellar-mass black hole in another galaxy — but not everyone agrees with what they found.

The merger of a black-hole binary

Black Holes

Addressing a Gap in Our Knowledge of Black Holes

Gravitational waves offer a test of whether supernovae can produce black holes between 55 and 120 times the Sun's mass.

black hole shredding star

Black Holes

Shredded Star Reveals Elusive Middle-Mass Black Hole

Astronomers have used the death of a star to uncover details about a hidden intermediate-mass black hole.

Zoomed-in view of barred spiral galaxy NGC 4921

Black Holes

Watch Black Holes Grow, Galaxies Fall

Watch black holes grow and galaxies fall — astro photos and visualizations to get you through the week.

two colorful radio gets stream out either side of a central, invisible point

Black Holes

From Starving Black Holes to Warped Galaxies

Hot topics from the American Astronomical Society summer meeting range from colliding galaxies, to warped galaxies, to starving black holes.

Closest black hole?

Black Holes

Is the “Unicorn” the Closest Black Hole?

Astronomers again think they have found the black hole nearest to us, just 1,500 light-years away, but the find still needs to be confirmed.

polarized emission around black hole

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Astronomers Detect Strong Magnetic Fields Around M87’s Black Hole

Event Horizon Telescope data support the idea that magnetic fields control how black holes feed and grow.

Farfarout object

Astronomy & Observing News

Planet-eating White Dwarfs, A Black Hole Cluster & The "Farfarout" Object

This week in astronomy news, astronomers found planet-eating white dwarfs, a cluster of black holes, and a "farfarout" object that's now the most distant known in the solar system.

illustration of X-ray binary system

Milky Way

Astronomy News: Galactic One-Two Punch, Black Hole Heartbeat Falters

In the news this week: Globular clusters have the detailed scoop on our galaxy's past, and a "heartbeat" black hole binary in the Milky Way has gone mysteriously dim.

Supermassive black hole devouring a star

Black Holes

Black Hole Feasts on Star, Bite by Bite

Like a cosmic blinker, a distant supermassive black hole is flaring every 114 days. Astronomers believe the eerily regular signal betrays the piecemeal devouring of a star.

illustration of active galaxy

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Survey Finds Newborn Black Hole Jets in Distant Galaxies

Astronomers have spotted a surprising number of quasars with jets launched within a couple of decades.