Tag

Black Holes

All articles tagged with #black holes

space11 hours ago•9 min saved

Webb’s Red Dots Point to Black Hole Feeding Inside Gas Clouds

JWST has identified over 300 mysterious red-tinted ‘little red dots’ whose origin remains unknown. A new Chandra X-ray Observatory paper reports that one LRD, 3DHST-AEGIS-12014, emits X-rays, aligning with the idea that some LRDs are a transient phase in which a supermassive black hole accretes material from a surrounding gas cloud; X-rays can escape during this process, making the dot visible. If this is correct, these dots should fade as the cloud is consumed, and continued observations including ongoing support for Chandra will be needed to catch such a transition.

via Hackaday|

#astronomy #black-holes #chandra-x-ray-observatory

science2 days ago•5 min saved

Cosmic Recycling: Heavier Black Holes Form From Repeated Mergers

An analysis of 153 black-hole mergers via gravitational waves reveals two populations: lighter black holes up to ~40 solar masses with spins aligned from stellar collapse, and heavier black holes above ~45 solar masses with chaotic spins, indicating they are second-generation products from prior mergers. This provides evidence that the heaviest black holes are created by repeated collisions in dense stellar environments rather than direct collapse from single stars.

via WIRED|

#astronomy #black-holes #gravitational-waves

science4 days ago•3 min saved

New Formula Reveals How Spacetime Crystals Could Collapse Into Black Holes

Researchers present a new analytic formula describing how spacetime crystals formed during critical collapse could evolve into black holes, providing a precise theoretical framework that could inform studies of primordial black holes—though empirical confirmation remains needed.

via Gizmodo|

#black-holes #critical-collapse #general-relativity

science10 days ago•5 min saved

Possible Dark Matter Clue Hidden in 2019 Gravitational Wave Signal

Physicists modeling ultralight dark matter around merging black holes suggest the July 2019 LVK event GW190728 could reflect a dense dark matter cloud, imprinting signatures on the gravitational waves. While intriguing, the statistical significance is not yet strong enough to claim a detection, and independent checks are needed; if confirmed, it would open a new way to study dark matter and its interaction with spacetime.

via ScienceAlert|

#astrophysics #black-holes #dark-matter

space11 days ago•73 min saved

Listening for Darkness: Could Gravitational Waves Reveal Dark Matter's Signature

A new study proposes that dense dark-matter clouds around spinning black holes could imprint a detectable signal on gravitational waves produced by merging black holes. Researchers analyzed 28 LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA events and found one—GW190728—whose waveform may carry such an imprint, though not a definitive detection. If true, this could provide a new way to probe dark matter using upcoming gravitational-wave observations and detector improvements, with the results published in Physical Review Letters.

via Space|

#black-holes #dark-matter #gravitational-waves

space12 days ago•5 min saved

JWST Discovers Hidden Bar and Potential Black Hole Duo in the Squid Galaxy

NASA's JWST infrared view of the nearby Squid Galaxy (M77/NGC 1068) uncovers a hidden central bar of stars, gas, and dust and tracks gas motions around a core mass of ~13 million solar masses—possibly a tight binary of supermassive black holes. The images also reveal a bright starburst ring and other star-forming regions along the spiral arms, and the galaxy has been linked to a high-energy neutrino detected in 2022, hinting it could be a giant particle accelerator. JWST can't resolve the black holes directly but will illuminate the nucleus's dynamics.

via ScienceAlert|

#black-holes #jwst #ngc-1068

science13 days ago•6 min saved

Gravitational Waves as a Probe for Dark Matter around Black Holes

MIT and European researchers developed a numerical model predicting how black-hole mergers would imprint dark matter on gravitational waves. When applied to LVK data, 27 of 28 clearest events matched vacuum expectations, while GW190728 showed a possible dark-matter imprint—though not a confirmed detection. The method provides a new way to screen for dark-matter signatures in gravitational waves for follow-up studies.

via MIT News|

#astrophysics #black-holes #dark-matter

space14 days ago•4 min saved

Giant Black Holes Likely Grow by Chains of Mergers in Dense Star Clusters

New analysis of GWTC4 gravitational-wave data suggests the universe’s heaviest black holes did not form directly from collapsing stars but grew through successive mergers in crowded star clusters, creating a distinct high-mass population with spins indicative of hierarchical growth. The study also finds evidence for a pair-instability mass gap near 45 solar masses, shedding light on stellar evolution and the nuclear reactions inside massive stars.

via SciTechDaily|

#black-holes #gravitational-waves #mass-gap

space14 days ago•6 min saved

X-ray Dot in the Dawn of the Universe Signals Transitional Black Hole Growth

Astronomers using JWST have spotted hundreds of compact “little red dots” in the early universe; among them, 3DHST-AEGIS-12014 stands out for its X‑ray emission, suggesting it may be a transitional object between a black‑hole–related phase and the growth of a supermassive black hole in a forming galaxy. If confirmed, this rare LRD could help explain how SMBHs began to grow in the first billions of years, though its exact nature, environment, and evolution remain open questions and will require further observations.

via ScienceAlert|

#3dhst-aegis-12014 #black-holes #little-red-dots

space17 days ago•33 min saved

X-Ray Dot Emerges as Key to Mystery of Ancient Cosmic Red Dots

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope have identified an X-ray–emitting ‘dot’ among the mysterious little red dots, suggesting these ancient, ultra-massive objects may represent a new, gas-enshrouded phase of supermassive black hole growth—potentially a “black hole star” stage—most of them located about 12 billion light-years away.

via Yahoo News UK|

#astronomy #black-holes #chandra-x-ray-observatory

space19 days ago•73 min saved

Massive black holes may form in crowded star clusters through successive mergers

A new study of 153 black hole mergers from GWTC4 finds two distinct populations: lighter black holes born from massive-star collapses and heavier ones likely created by hierarchical mergers in dense star clusters, supporting a predicted mass gap around 45 solar masses and suggesting the largest black holes grow primarily via cluster mergers rather than direct stellar collapse.

via Space|

#black-holes #globular-clusters #gravitational-waves

science22 days ago•4 min saved

Tiny Dark-Matter Bursts May Kickstart the Universe’s First Supermassive Black Holes

A new study proposes that tiny energy bursts from decaying dark matter in the early universe could nudge pristine hydrogen gas clouds to collapse faster, facilitating direct-collapse black holes and potentially explaining the unexpectedly early appearance of supermassive black holes seen by JWST. The model highlights axion-like particles in the 24–27 eV range as the right environment to enable rapid formation.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#axions #black-holes #cosmology

space25 days ago•4 min saved

Distant X-ray Dot Could Unveil How Early Black Holes Grew

Astronomers using Webb and Chandra detected a faint, compact red source about 11.8 billion light-years away (3DHST-AEGIS-12014) that emits X-rays, unlike most little red dots. This could represent a transitional phase where a rapidly growing black hole is still buried in dense gas, helping link the LRD population to conventional active black holes and refining models of black hole formation in the early universe, though alternative explanations exist and further observations are needed.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#black-holes #chandra-x-ray-observatory #early-universe

science26 days ago•42 min saved

JWST Dots May Be Black Hole–Powered Clouds, New X-Ray Clue Emerges

A match between JWST observations of distant, cool “little red dots” and archival Chandra X-ray data has found an X-ray source at one dot’s location, bolstering the idea that these objects are gas clouds hosting growing supermassive black holes and possibly representing a transitional stage in how black holes and their host galaxies form.

via Yahoo|

#black-holes #galaxy-formation #james-webb-space-telescope

space27 days ago•75 min saved

Webb’s X-ray Finds Hint that ‘Little Red Dots’ Harbor Baby Black Holes

JWST observations of the enigmatic 'little red dots' align with a Chandra X-ray source at 3DHST-AEGIS-12014, bolstering the idea that these distant, cool gas clouds host growing supermassive black holes. The X-ray detection suggests a transitional phase in SMBH growth inside a gas cloud, offering a potential window into how black holes and their host galaxies form and evolve in the early universe (around 11.8–12 billion years ago).

via Space|

#black-holes #galaxy-formation #james-webb-space-telescope