A team of physicists proposes that perturbations in the orbits of stars near supermassive black holes could be used to detect wormholes … if they exist. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/wormholes-how-to-find…
Tag: supermassive black hole
Going against the flow around a supermassive black hole
At the center of a galaxy called NGC 1068, a supermassive black hole hides within a thick doughnut-shaped cloud of dust and gas. When astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study this cloud in more detail, they made an unexpected discovery that could explain why supermassive black holes grew so rapidly in the early Universe. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-10-supermassive-black-hole.html…
The nature of obscured active galactic nuclei
Most galaxies host a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at their nucleus, one whose mass exceeds a million solar-masses. When material actively accretes onto the SMBH, associated processes can produce an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a hot torus and dramatic bipolar jets of rapidly moving charged particles. The most luminous known AGN emit over ten trillion solar-luminosities. Astronomers are trying to…
A dormant volcano: the black hole at the heart of our galaxy is more explosive than we thought
The supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy spat out an enormous flare of radiation 3.5 million years ago that would have been clearly visible from Earth. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-10-dormant-volcano-black-hole-heart.html…
Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded
A titanic, expanding beam of energy sprang from close to the supermassive black hole in the centre of the Milky Way just 3.5 million years ago, sending a cone-shaped burst of radiation through both poles of the Galaxy and out into deep space. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-10-center-milky.html…
Not long ago, the center of our Milky Way galaxy exploded
Researchers have found evidence of a cataclysmic flare that punched outward in both directions from our galaxy’s center, reaching so far into intergalactic space that its impact was felt 200,000 light-years away. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/explosion-milky-way-center-seyfert-flare-magellanic-stream…
Found: 3 black holes due to collide
Take one minute to watch a video of a system of 3 galaxies – called SDSS J0849+1114 – all orbiting each other a billion light years from Earth. Each galaxy contains a supermassive black hole, which are circling each other, about to collide. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/sdss-j08491114-3-black-holes-due-to-collide…
Some planets may orbit a supermassive black hole instead of a star
Planets normally form gradually from the disk of dust around a star. But the same thing could happen around black holes, forming thousands of super heavy planets Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2217144-some-planets-may-orbit-a-supermassive-black-hole-instead-of-a-star/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Study captures six galaxies undergoing sudden, dramatic transitions
Galaxies come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and brightnesses, ranging from humdrum ordinary galaxies to luminous active galaxies. While an ordinary galaxy is visible mainly because of the light from its stars, an active galaxy shines brightest at its center, or nucleus, where a supermassive black hole emits a steady blast of bright light as it voraciously consumes nearby…
Milky Way’s black hole appears to be getting hungrier
“We have never seen anything like this in the 24 years we have studied the supermassive black hole. It’s usually a pretty quiet, wimpy black hole on a diet. We don’t know what is driving this big feast.” Source: https://earthsky.org/space/milky-ways-black-hole-appears-to-be-getting-hungrier…