https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/black-holes/RSS feed for Black HolesenSun, 30 Aug 2026 11:26:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nasas-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope-launches-to-find-exoplanets-and-unravel-mysteries-of-dark-matter-and-dark-energy-180989268/The new observatory will complete three surveys of the universe in five years, although it's designed to function at least twice as long. Its data could change scientists' basic understanding of the cosmosSun, 30 Aug 2026 11:26:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nasas-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope-launches-to-find-exoplanets-and-unravel-mysteries-of-dark-matter-and-dark-energy-180989268/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-star-orbits-our-galaxys-heart-at-a-record-breaking-speed-and-could-help-uncover-secrets-about-the-behemoth-black-hole-there-180989393/The speedster travels at up to 56 million miles per hour, or about 8 percent the speed of light. It also gets very close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky WayFri, 28 Aug 2026 15:45:08 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-star-orbits-our-galaxys-heart-at-a-record-breaking-speed-and-could-help-uncover-secrets-about-the-behemoth-black-hole-there-180989393/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nasa-funded-mission-to-rescue-a-falling-space-telescope-officially-ends-in-failure-180989376/The commercial LINK spacecraft was supposed to give NASA's Swift observatory a boost, pushing it higher into orbit to extend its life. But after launch, LINK experienced several problems. Swift is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up by the end of this yearThu, 20 Aug 2026 19:35:40 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nasa-funded-mission-to-rescue-a-falling-space-telescope-officially-ends-in-failure-180989376/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/earths-organisms-developed-via-evolution-some-theorists-wonder-what-if-the-entire-cosmos-did-too-180989338/The idea that universes evolve like organisms sat on the fringes of theoretical physics for decades. Then, a Substack post and a 2022 find by the James Webb Space Telescope boosted the conceptTue, 18 Aug 2026 16:00:01 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/earths-organisms-developed-via-evolution-some-theorists-wonder-what-if-the-entire-cosmos-did-too-180989338/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-a-first-astronomers-may-have-spotted-a-galaxy-in-the-early-universe-with-three-behemoth-black-holes-180989344/The galaxy’s light took about 12.5 billion years to reach the James Webb Space Telescope, meaning the instrument saw the black holes a little more than one billion years after the Big Bang. Two of the black holes seemed on track to merge, illustrating how the objects growMon, 17 Aug 2026 19:13:48 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-a-first-astronomers-may-have-spotted-a-galaxy-in-the-early-universe-with-three-behemoth-black-holes-180989344/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-peered-at-the-early-universe-and-may-have-discovered-a-new-kind-of-celestial-object-black-hole-stars-180989334/Since the James Webb Space Telescope started collecting data in 2022, it has found puzzling objects dubbed little red dots. A new study suggests they might be giant black holes with some characteristics of starsFri, 14 Aug 2026 15:47:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-peered-at-the-early-universe-and-may-have-discovered-a-new-kind-of-celestial-object-black-hole-stars-180989334/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-a-first-astronomers-may-have-spotted-a-supermassive-black-hole-that-wandered-to-the-edge-of-its-galaxy-180989233/These giant celestial objects have mostly been identified at the centers of galaxies, where they're known to reside. But a recently discovered one—found because of the light emitted while it snacked on a star—appears to be more than 30,000 light-years from its host galaxy's heartTue, 04 Aug 2026 16:16:17 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-a-first-astronomers-may-have-spotted-a-supermassive-black-hole-that-wandered-to-the-edge-of-its-galaxy-180989233/