supermassive black holes – Astronomy Now

Most massive black hole yet discovered redefines ‘gargantuan’

1 July 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers find a supermassive black hole 8,000 times more massive than the one at the heart of the Milky Way.

Monster black hole in early universe challenges theorists

25 June 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found a 1.5-billion-solar-mass black hole dating back to within 700 million years of the Big Bang birth of the cosmos.

Event Horizon Telescope reveals inner workings of quasar’s jet

8 April 2020 Astronomy Now

One year after capturing an image of a black hole’s shadow, the Event Horizon Telescope captures best view yet of a quasar’s powerful jets.

How to ‘seed’ supermassive black holes in the early universe

24 March 2020 Astronomy Now

Researchers in Italy have come up with a testable explanation for how supermassive black holes were able to grow so fast in the early universe.

Small black holes in colliding dwarf galaxies may be source of gravity waves

27 February 2020 Astronomy Now

Merging low-mass dwarf galaxies in the distant past could lead black hole collisions that would generate the sort of gravity waves detected to date.

Astronomers find more bizarre objects orbiting Milky Way’s black hole

16 January 2020 Astronomy Now

Strange objects orbiting the Milky Way’s central black hole appear to be binary stars that were forced to merge under the influence of the hole’s gravity.

Supermassive black holes feast on vast reservoirs of hydrogen

30 December 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found a likely source of “food” – vast reservoirs of hydrogen – fueling the growth of supermassive black holes in the early universe

Record-setting ultra-massive black hole found at heart of galaxy cluster

5 December 2019 Astronomy Now

The central elliptical galaxy in a cluster 700 million light years away harbours a record-setting black hole with the mass of 40 billion Suns.

Scientists conclude planets possible around supermassive black holes

2 December 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers theorize supermassive black holes at the hearts of many if not all large galaxies could host thousands of large planets out to distances up to 10 light years.

Milky Way’s central black hole flings star out of galaxy

13 November 2019 Astronomy Now

A star has been spotted racing out of the Milky Way at more than 6 million kph after a close encounter with the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole.