Black holes
Latest about Black holes
![two glowing yellow and orange disks one significantly smaller than the other](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ExL7xX4WHkXNf95BsMXPVA-320-80.jpg)
These 2 monster black holes may be the closest pair ever discovered in visible and X-ray light (video)
By Robert Lea published
The tag team of NASA space telescopes Hubble and Chandra has demonstrated that two is definitely better than one when it comes to pairings of supermassive black holes and hunting for them.
![Striations are seen on a blurred glowing red-orange ring in space.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yMquMe4srNd7YKaBJUmqw6-320-80.png)
The 1st Milky Way black hole image was groundbreaking — the next could be even better
By Keith Cooper published
By demonstrating the ability for joint observations at the short radio wavelength of 0.87mm, the Event Horizon Telescope has improved its observational acuity by half.
![A purple glowing jet is released from a spinning black hole in space.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/HRJzaECByHaRvFHp9Kdrbg-320-80.jpg)
Scientists make lab-grown black hole jets
By Keith Cooper published
By using protons to probe how a magnetic field responds to an expanding plasma, experimenters have replicated the particle jets spewed out by active black holes.
![on the left is a large blue star with a long stream of material stretching out from the star into the disk around the black hole on the right.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YeuQLwJMnVDR7meB6RFVNJ-320-80.jpg)
Some black holes have a 'heartbeat' — and astronomers may finally know why
By Paul Sutter published
A tiny fraction of known black holes emit X-ray signals that resemble a human "heartbeat." Now, new research may finally explain the strange phenomenon.
![A vast star map with blue point denoting monster black holes.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dWLV2ukhzMgpyGvWSBKTcB-320-80.jpg)
Supermassive black holes have masses of more than a million suns – but their growth has slowed as the universe aged
By Fan Zou, W. Niel Brandt published
![A orange swirl at the heart of a purple cloud of gas](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/w82E6sV75TLosxfbwDCHW8-320-80.png)
What happens if you throw a star at a black hole? Things get messy (video)
By Robert Lea published
Supermassive black holes that shred and devour stars throw them up like a "bad curry" and cover themselves in the wreckage, sick new simulations reveal.
![An orange disk with black hole at its center and two bright purple eruptions extend from it](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Z3bwF9DnJMqAMH4ABDPCmE-320-80.png)
How do supermassive black holes 'starve' their galaxies to halt star formation?
By Robert Lea published
The "deaths" of galaxies are caused by their central supermassive black holes, and the "smoking gun" evidence of this connection takes an unexpected form.
![An illustration of a black hole at the top of the screen and a white orb getting ripped apart toward the bottom.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8vbq7SmRTvhV98HUfQBgbL-320-80.jpg)
Astronomers find black hole's favorite snack: 'The star appears to be living to die another day'
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
Astronomers have pinned down a faraway black hole's snack schedule after watching it devour a star across years.
![A swirl of orange turning into a pink disk with a hole at its center.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ziLUfcpZKdNodG7ttnHh3e-320-80.png)
Massive star's gory 'death by black hole' is the biggest and brightest event of its kind
By Robert Lea published
Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole violently shredding and devouring a star nine times as massive as the sun.
![Two orange swirls against a black background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mVVgPwAMYPpsPtQzZN9rdA-320-80.png)
Small black holes could play 'hide-and-seek' with elusive supermassive black hole pairs
By Robert Lea published
Small pairs of binary black holes could be used to play hide-and-seek' with elusive supermassive black hole binaries via gravitational waves carry the "baritone singing" of these cosmic titans.
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