Gravitational wave echoes may confirm Stephen Hawking’s hypothesis of quantum black holes

Echoes in gravitational wave signals suggest that the event horizon of a black hole may be more complicated than scientists currently think. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-01-gravitational-echoes-stephen-hawking-hypothesis.html…

Famous black hole has jet pushing cosmic speed limit

The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration released the first image of a black hole with observations of the massive, dark object at the center of Messier 87, or M87, last April. This black hole has a mass of about 6.5 billion times that of the sun and is located about 55 million light years from Earth. The black hole has been called…

Top 9 EarthSky stories of 2019

From the 1st landing on the moon’s far side to the 1st actual image of a black hole, here’s a quick roundup of 9 of the stories our readers enjoyed most in 2019. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/top-9-stories-of-2019…

A second black hole at our galaxy’s center?

There’s a supermassive black hole – 4 million times our sun’s mass – in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers who’ve measured star movements near this central black hole are now saying there might be a 2nd companion black hole near it. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/supermassive-black-hole-milky-way-galaxys-center-may-have-friend…

Thousands of exoplanets may orbit supermassive black holes

It sounds unbelievable, but a new study from Kagoshima University and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan says that exoplanets – thousands of them – could be orbiting supermassive black holes. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/thousands-of-exoplanets-may-orbit-supermassive-black-holes…

Hibernating astronauts would need smaller spacecraft

If a sci-fi spaceship does not come with hyperdrive then it is usually fitted with hibernation capsules instead. In movies from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Event Horizon, Alien to Passengers, fictional astronauts get put into “suspended animation” to cross the vastness of space. Now ESA has investigated how real life crew hibernation would impact space mission design. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-11-hibernating-astronauts-smaller-spacecraft.html…

NASA’s space geodesy project mapping out a bright future

In April 2019, an international team of more than 300 scientists unveiled the first recorded images of a black hole, its dark shadow and vivid orange disk peering back across 55 million light years of space. Capturing images from so far away required the combined power of eight radio telescopes across four continents, working together to essentially form a massive Earth-sized…

NASA creates stunning new black hole visualization

For decades, astronomical theorists have told us that a black hole’s powerful gravity would warp the space around it. This new visualization from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is the best yet at showing exactly how. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/black-hole-visualization-from-side-schnittman-goddard…

Mystery green blob appears and disappears in distant galaxy

What is ULX-4 – a mystery green blob of X-ray light that appeared in the Fireworks Galaxy – and then soon disappeared again? A black hole or neutron star are 2 possibilities. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mystery-green-blob-ulx-4-fireworks-galaxy…