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.
An international collaboration of astrophysicists that includes researchers from Yale has created and tested a detection system that uses gravitational waves to map out the locations of merging black holes—known as supermassive ...
Astronomy
Feb 5, 2026
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Our Milky Way galaxy may not have a supermassive black hole at its center but rather an enormous clump of mysterious dark matter exerting the same gravitational influence, astronomers say. They believe this invisible substance—which ...
Astronomy
Feb 5, 2026
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A supermassive black hole with a case of cosmic indigestion has been burping out the remains of a shredded star for four years—and it's still going strong, new research led by a University of Oregon astrophysicist shows.
Astronomy
Feb 5, 2026
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Gigantic black holes lurk at the center of virtually every galaxy, including ours, but we've lacked a precise picture of what impact they have on their surroundings. However, a University of Chicago-led group of scientists ...
Astronomy
Feb 3, 2026
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Deep in the frozen heart of Antarctica, the South Pole Telescope has been watching one of the most extreme neighborhoods in our galaxy, and it's just caught something extraordinary happening there. Astronomers have detected ...
Astronomy
Jan 31, 2026
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Astronomers have found thousands of exoplanets around single stars, but few around binary stars—even though both types of stars are equally common. Physicists can now explain the dearth.
Astronomy
Jan 30, 2026
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Last year, astronomers were fascinated by a runaway asteroid passing through our solar system from somewhere far beyond. It was moving at around 68 kilometers per second, just over double Earth's speed around the sun.
Astronomy
Jan 28, 2026
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Astronomers at The University of Manchester have played a leading role in the discovery of a new cosmic object that is much larger than anything astronomers have seen before in the distant universe. This new discovery captures ...
Astronomy
Jan 28, 2026
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When astronomers look out into the cosmos, they see supermassive black holes (SMBH) in two different states. In one state, they're dormant. They're actively accreting only a tiny amount of matter and emit only faint, weak ...
Astronomy
Jan 28, 2026
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Some galaxies eject powerful streams of charged particles—jets—from their centers into space. The prominent jet of Messier 87 (M87) in the constellation Virgo is visible over distances of 3,000 light-years and can be observed ...
Astronomy
Jan 28, 2026
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