Astronomical black holes are compact astrophysical systems characterized by regions of spacetime where gravity is so strong that no matter or radiation can escape beyond the event horizon. They are described by solutions to Einstein’s field equations, typically approximated by the Kerr or Schwarzschild metrics, and are defined by mass, spin, and (negligible) charge. Formed primarily via stellar core collapse or hierarchical mergers, they interact with their environments through accretion disks, relativistic jets, and gravitational-wave emission. Astronomical black holes span stellar-mass to supermassive regimes, influencing galactic dynamics, high-energy radiation processes, and cosmological structure formation.
Even matter ejected by black holes can run into objects in the dark. Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have found an unusual mark from a giant black hole's powerful jet striking an unidentified object in ...
Astronomy
Dec 10, 2024
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Ultra-high energy cosmic rays, which emerge in extreme astrophysical environments—like the roiling environments near black holes and neutron stars—have far more energy than the energetic particles that emerge from our sun. ...
Astronomy
Dec 10, 2024
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In a new study using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Prof. Dasyra of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, and her team provided insights into how supermassive black holes affect galaxy ...
Astronomy
Dec 9, 2024
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NASA's IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) has helped astronomers better understand the shapes of structures essential to a black hole—specifically, the disk of material swirling around it and the shifting plasma region ...
Astronomy
Dec 9, 2024
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Astronomers have used the unique capabilities of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to peer closer than ever into the throat of an energetic monster black hole powering a quasar. A quasar is a galactic center that glows brightly ...
Astronomy
Dec 5, 2024
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Every galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center, much like every egg has a yolk. But sometimes, hens lay eggs with two yolks. In a similar way, astrophysicists like us who study supermassive black holes expect to ...
Astronomy
Dec 5, 2024
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An international study led by astronomers from Swinburne University of Technology has created the most detailed maps of gravitational waves across the universe to date.
Astronomy
Dec 2, 2024
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Imagine the formation of a black hole and you'll probably envision a massive star running out of fuel and collapsing in on itself. Yet the chaotic conditions of the early universe may have also allowed many small black holes ...
Astronomy
Dec 2, 2024
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Dark matter made out of axions may have the power to make space-time ring like a bell, but only if it is able to steal energy from black holes, according to new research.
Astronomy
Nov 25, 2024
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Buried in the treasure trove of the Gaia catalog were two strange black hole systems. These were black holes orbiting sun-like stars, a situation that astronomers long thought impossible. Recently, a team has proposed a mechanism ...
Astronomy
Nov 21, 2024
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