Tag

Black Holes

All articles tagged with #black holes

space2 days ago•127 min saved

Astronomers Identify First Candidate for a 'Microblazar' in the Milky Way

An international team of astronomers has identified IRAS 18293-0941 as the first strong candidate for a 'microblazar,' a long-theorized cosmic object. Located about 12,000 light-years from Earth in the Milky Way, this binary system features a black hole orbiting a giant star. The black hole ejects matter in powerful jets, one of which is pointed directly at Earth, offering a rare opportunity to study these energetic phenomena up close.

via Live Science|

#astronomy #astrophysics #black-holes

astronomy7 days ago•119 min saved

Black Hole Jets Quench Galaxy Star Formation by Disrupting Distant Gas Reserves

A new study reveals that supermassive black holes suppress star formation in their host galaxies by launching plasma jets that heat and disrupt the circumgalactic medium (CGM). This gas reservoir, which extends 10-20 times beyond the visible galaxy, provides the raw material for new stars. By ionizing this gas along specific paths, black holes prevent it from cooling and collapsing into stars, effectively 'killing' the galaxy's growth. The findings, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, solve a long-standing mystery regarding why large galaxies do not produce more stars despite being surrounded by vast amounts of potential fuel.

via Space|

#astronomy #black-holes #circumgalactic-medium

science9 days ago•123 min saved

JWST Red Dots Linked to Rapid Black Hole Growth in Early Universe

New simulations and spectral analyses suggest that 'little red dots' seen by the James Webb Space Telescope are not galaxies, but supermassive black holes rapidly accreting gas in the early universe. This finding helps explain how massive black holes formed within a billion years of the Big Bang.

via Space|

#astrophysics #black-holes #early-universe

science10 days ago•7 min saved

Theoretical Physicists Reveal How Black Holes May Shed Their 'Hair' to Form Boson Stars

A new study by researchers at the University of Aveiro suggests that black holes surrounded by scalar fields, or 'hair,' can undergo a process called fission. In this scenario, the black hole separates from its surrounding matter, leaving behind a stable boson star. This theoretical decay mode challenges previous assumptions about the stability of such systems and could produce detectable gravitational wave signals.

via ScienceAlert|

#black-holes #boson-stars #gravitational-waves

astronomy10 days ago•120 min saved

Rogue Black Holes May Preserve Galactic Histories as Cosmic Wanderers

New research suggests that black holes ejected from their home galaxies during mergers act as 'cosmic archivists,' retaining records of their origin. These 'rogue' black holes, which can travel for billions of years, may help resolve debates about whether early black holes formed from collapsing stars or dense gas clouds. The findings indicate that studying wandering black holes is crucial for understanding the formation and dynamics of massive black holes in the early universe.

via Space|

#astronomy #astrophysics #black-holes

science14 days ago•4 min saved

Webb’s Little Red Dots Reveal Rapid Black Hole Growth in the Early Universe

Astronomers are using the James Webb Space Telescope to investigate 'little red dots,' a new class of objects in the early universe that may represent rapidly growing black holes. Recent simulations and observations suggest these objects formed within 500 million to 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, challenging existing models of how supermassive black holes achieved their size so quickly. While some researchers propose they are 'black hole stars'—black holes enveloped in dense gas cocoons—others remain skeptical, noting that the data does not perfectly fit any single theoretical model.

via Gizmodo|

#astronomy #astrophysics #black-holes

astronomy14 days ago•120 min saved

First Milky Way Microblazar Found: Black Hole Jet Accelerates Particles to Extreme Energies

Astronomers have identified IRAS 18293-0941 as the first confirmed microblazar in the Milky Way, a stellar-mass black hole system emitting jets at near-light speed. Located 12,000 light-years away, the system consists of a black hole roughly 10 times the mass of the Sun orbiting a companion star every 11 days. The discovery, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, resolves a 30-year search for a galactic analog to distant blazars. The system’s jets, one pointing directly at Earth and the other impacting a dense gas cloud, may explain the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, acting as a natural particle accelerator 100 times more powerful than the Large Hadron Collider.

via Space|

#astronomy #black-holes #cosmic-rays

science15 days ago•24 min saved

Caltech researchers use new algorithm to visualize black hole jet in 3D

Caltech astrophysicists have released a high-resolution video of a supermassive black hole’s plasma jet using a new neural field algorithm called 'kine.' The footage, derived from 27 years of data on the blazar 3C 345, allows scientists to observe different parts of the jet moving at varying speeds, a capability previously limited to overall velocity tracking.

via New York Post|

#astronomy #black-holes #blazars

space18 days ago•44 min saved

Laser-powered nanocraft could reach a nearby black hole within a century to test gravity

A speculative concept by Cosimo Bambi envisions gram‑scale, laser‑driven nanocrafts accelerated by Earth‑based lasers to roughly one‑third light speed, potentially reaching a nearby black hole 20–25 light‑years away in 60–75 years, with data returning 20–25 years later. The mission could involve two probes to test Einstein’s general relativity near the Kerr metric, investigate the event horizon, and probe fundamental constants in strong gravity. However, no suitable nearby black hole is known (Gaia BH1 is too distant), the approach requires a massive, costly laser system (on the order of a trillion euros with current tech), and significant navigation and propulsion challenges remain, so the concept is a roadmap, not a ready-to-build mission.

via The Brighter Side of News|

#black-holes #general-relativity #interstellar-mission

science18 days ago•122 min saved

Black Holes as Galactic Sculptors: Triggering Star Formation

Astronomers mapped nine nearby galaxies with active galactic nuclei to trace how energy from feeding supermassive black holes drives shocks in the surrounding gas, revealing that AGN outflows can spark rings of star formation 2,600 to 20,000 light-years from galactic centers. This study outlines a complex accretion–outflow feedback cycle that shapes galaxy evolution and was based on VLT/MUSE data; findings published in The Astrophysical Journal.

via Space|

#agn-feedback #black-holes #galaxies

space22 days ago•3 min saved

Black holes jet out in two predictable bursts after devouring a star

Astronomers analyzing 20 tidal disruption events with radio telescopes found that black holes—ranging from stellar to supermassive—generate jets in two distinct phases of feeding: during high accretion and again hundreds to thousands of days after disruption when the accretion rate falls to about 2% of its maximum. This timing is consistent across black hole sizes, enabling precise jet predictions and more efficient use of telescope time.

via theguardian.com|

#black-holes #galaxy-evolution #jets

culture24 days ago•7 min saved

Hawking: A Relentless Mind Behind the Cosmos

Telegraph’s review of Graham Farmelo’s Hawking: His Life and Work praises a measured portrait that blends Stephen Hawking’s towering scientific achievements with the personal toll of motor neurone disease, noting Farmelo’s use of family archives and Isobel Hawking’s blunt perspective. It presents Hawking as a determined project rather than a saint, touches on his controversial marriages and feuds, and positions the book as a strong addition to the Hawking canon, earning four stars.

via The Telegraph|

#biography #black-holes #culture

science29 days ago•3 min saved

Gravitational Lensing May Turn GW231123 into an Ordinary Black-Hole Merger

A new study suggests GW231123's 'impossible' mass may be due to gravitational lensing, which would mask a final black hole of about 140 solar masses as about 225 solar masses. If true, the event would fit existing black-hole formation models and avoid the pair-instability mass gap, but the lensing explanation is not yet proven and remains a caveat rather than a confirmed cause. Gravitational-wave lensing could become a valuable tool for future discoveries.

via Gizmodo|

#astrophysics #black-holes #gravitational-lensing

space29 days ago•135 min saved

Cosmic Lens Could Rewrite a Massive Black-Hole Merger

A Space.com report notes researchers modeling the GW231123 gravitational-wave event suggest the unusually high inferred masses of the merging black holes could be an illusion caused by gravitational lensing. If a foreground object (roughly 190–850 solar masses) or a globular cluster lenses the signal, the true masses could be around 140 and 100 solar masses, avoiding the need for extreme spins. The lens’s exact nature remains unknown, and confirming lensing in future events will require more sensitive detectors; the team published their findings in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

via Space|

#black-holes #gravitational-lensing #gravitational-waves

science1 month ago•12 min saved

Four-Decade Bet Pays Off: LIGO Detects Gravitational Waves from Black-Hole Merger

After a 1972 proposal, physicists spent 43 years refining ultra-sensitive laser interferometers before LIGO detected gravitational waves from a black-hole merger 1.3 billion light-years away in 2015, a milestone that earned a Nobel Prize and reshaped our understanding of the universe.

via Space Daily|

#black-holes #gravitational-waves #interferometer