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Black Holes

NASA has been planning and developing the Roman Space Telescope for 16 years.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Launches to Find Exoplanets and Unravel Mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy

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 cosmos

Many stars orbit the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. But S301's orbit, shown in red, is the only one known to be close enough to feel the effects of the black hole's theorized spin.

This Star Orbits Our Galaxy’s Heart at a Record-Breaking Speed—and Could Help Uncover Secrets About the Behemoth Black Hole There

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 Way

An artistic rendering of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which is now falling after watching the sky for more than 20 years.

NASA-Funded Mission to Rescue a Falling Space Telescope Officially Ends in Failure

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 year

According to a niche perspective called “cosmological evolution,” universes may reproduce by spawning black holes in which new universes may form. The concept is far from proven, but researchers note its potential.

Earth’s Organisms Developed Via Evolution. Some Theorists Wonder: What if the Entire Cosmos Did, Too?

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 concept

A map of the galaxy J0148-4214 with dots showing the locations of the three supermassive black holes.

In a First, Astronomers May Have Spotted a Galaxy in the Early Universe With Three Behemoth Black Holes

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 grow

Illustration of a black hole star, an enormous black hole surrounded by dense hydrogen gas

Astronomers Peered at the Early Universe and May Have Discovered a New Kind of Celestial Object: Black Hole Stars

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 stars

An artistic rendering of a tidal disruption event, when a black hole rips apart and devours a star that got too close. These events help scientists find black holes, which don't emit light.

In a First, Astronomers May Have Spotted a Supermassive Black Hole That Wandered to the Edge of Its Galaxy

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 heart

The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula is a region where stars are born, seen in Smithsonian Starstruck.

See a Diamond Planet, an Exploding Star and a Black Hole Up Close in a New Immersive Virtual Reality Experience

Informed by science from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and astronomers worldwide, this “documentary that you can walk through” visualizes the cosmos in a 3D introduction to the universe

Composite image of evidence for wind blowing away from Sagittarius A*, with the black hole shown as a white dot in the center, cold gas in orange and X-ray data in blue. 

The Supermassive Black Hole at the Heart of Our Galaxy Seems to Be Blowing Wind—Just as Scientists Long Theorized

Scientists have been searching for evidence of this breeze since the 1970s. They’ve seen intense wind from other black holes, but they’ve struggled to observe the one at the Milky Way’s center

An artist's rendition of an imploding star, surrounded by expelled gas and dust shown in red

A Star Suddenly Brightened, Then Faded Into Darkness. Astronomers Say It May Have Turned Into a Black Hole

If confirmed, this disappearing act might provide the closest and best observational evidence for the birth of a black hole

A computer simulation of a black hole being born

The Most Massive Black Hole Merger Ever Seen Was So Rare, It Seemed Impossible. Now, Astrophysicists May Finally Have an Explanation

Past research about black hole births rarely included magnetic fields or the spins of the precursor stars. But considering those factors could explain the origins of two unusual objects that collided

An artist's concept of a supermassive black hole shredding a massive star

Astronomers Detect the Brightest and Most Distant Black Hole Flare Ever Seen

The enormous outburst was likely caused by an unfortunate star venturing too close to a supermassive black hole

A radio image of two black holes orbiting each other in Quasar OJ287. The light comes from the glowing gas surrounding the black holes and the particle jets being emitted.

Researchers Just Revealed the First-Ever Image of Two Black Holes Orbiting Each Other

A new study may visually solve an enduring mystery about a bright object that’s been studied since the 19th century

The images, captured with the Event Horizon Telescope, show the magnetic field of the supermassive black hole M87* completely reversing.

Astronomers Watched a Black Hole Unexpectedly Flip Its Magnetic Field, Challenging Theoretical Models

A series of observations between 2017 and 2021 suggest the supermassive structure’s magnetized plasma is more dynamic than thought

GRB 250702B was spotted in July.

Astronomers Discover Unusual, Long-Lasting Gamma-Ray Explosion Outside Our Galaxy That Appeared Several Times Throughout a Day

The burst seems to have been caused by a highly extraordinary event, but scientists don’t yet know exactly what that could be

A researcher outlines how we could send a spacecraft to a nearby black hole. 

Could We Send a Superlight Spacecraft to a Theoretical Nearby Black Hole?

An astrophysicist argues that the interstellar mission would be extremely challenging but not completely unrealistic

Researchers announced they have discovered the most massive black hole merger by detecting gravitational waves.

Physicists Detect the Most Massive Black Hole Merger Ever Observed by Studying Gravitational Waves

A short-lived ripple in space-time revealed that two black holes merged into a giant black hole with the mass of 225 suns

Spiral galaxies imaged by JWST that rotate in the same direction relative to the Milky Way (red) and in the opposite direction relative to the Milky Way (blue). The number of galaxies rotating in the opposite direction relative to the Milky Way as observed from Earth is far higher.

James Webb Space Telescope Reveals That Most Galaxies Rotate Clockwise

This preferred direction of spin might be due to one of two reasons: either our entire universe exists in a black hole, or astronomers have been measuring the universe’s expansion incorrectly

The Large Magellanic Cloud, photographed here by the Hubble Space Telescope, is about 160,000 light-years from Earth.

Astronomers Discover Evidence of a Stealthy Supermassive Black Hole Hiding Right ‘Under Our Noses’

The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the most well-studied galaxies, but new findings suggest it might have been holding a giant secret

This is the first image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and released in 2022.

This Comprehensive Guide Will Answer the Questions You Have About Black Holes—and Spark Some New Ones

In a new book release, two scientists combine forces to explain the discoveries, developments and theories made in the realm of the densest objects in space

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