Black holes

Black holes are regions of space where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing — not even light — can escape. Rather than empty space, black holes are chock full of matter that gets squeezed into a teensy space. 

Everything you need to know about black holes

Latest about Black Holes

The black hole M87* pictured with a gigantic jet of material streaming from it.

Behold the first direct image of a supermassive black hole spewing a jet of particles

By Ben Turner published

The first complete image of a black hole and its jet has captured a never-before-seen view of how the cosmic monster traps and spits out matter.

Clouds of red, yellow, green and pink gas represent X-ray radiation at the Milky Way's turbulent center

The most elusive black holes in the universe could lurk at the Milky Way's center

By Paul Sutter published

Astronomers have a plan for using ripples in space-time to hunt for elusive intermediate-mass black holes around the Milky Way's center.

A sharpened up image of the black hole M87*, now captured at the fullest resolution of the Event Horizon Telescope.

First-ever close-up of a supermassive black hole sharpened to 'full resolution' by AI, and the results are stunning

By Ben Turner published

Astronomers have used machine learning to sharpen the 2019 Event Horizon Telescope image of the black hole M87*, the first direct image of a black hole ever taken.

Two bright blue spheres representing supermassive black holes swirl amidst a cloud of blue and brown dust in the early universe

NASA discovers ultra-rare 'double quasar' about to collide into an unbelievably massive black hole

By Joanna Thompson published

A rare double quasar system 10 billion light-years away could help astronomers uncover the secrets of the early universe.

An illustration of a 'runaway black hole' zooming away from its galaxy, with a trail of stars following behind it.

'Runaway' black hole the size of 20 million suns caught speeding through space with a trail of newborn stars behind it

By Robert Lea last updated

Astronomers have discovered a "runaway" black hole, potentially the first observational evidence that supermassive black holes can be ejected from their host galaxies.

An artist's illustration of a black hole.

James Webb Space Telescope discovers oldest black hole in the universe — a cosmic monster 10 million times heavier than the sun

By Ben Turner published

The James Webb Space Telescope detected what may be the oldest known black hole in the universe by deconstructing faint glimmers of light from close to the dawn of time.

A multi-wavelength image of the stunning galazy Centaurus A, with twin lobes of purple light bursting out of its bright center

New type of black hole found lurking in Earth's 'cosmic backyard' is closest ever discovered

By Joanna Thompson published

The two closest black holes to Earth, named Gaia BH1 and BH2, may be part of a rare class of black holes never seen before, new research suggests.

An illustration of a black hole surrounded by churning matter. New research suggests information about the black hole’s creation could be found as radiation in this region.

Stephen Hawking's famous black hole paradox may finally have a solution

By Robert Lea published

The 'Hawking radiation' emitted by black holes may be able to carry information after all, a new solution to Stephen Hawking's famous paradox suggests.

An illustration of a hungry black hole, wrapped in a fiery orange accretion disk and shooting a beam of blue radiation out of its center

Object mistaken as a galaxy is actually a black hole pointed directly at Earth

By Briley Lewis published

An object once thought to be a radio galaxy is actually an active black hole that changed angles to point directly at Earth, new research suggests.

An artist's impression of a pitch-dark black hole warping gray space-time around it

Gargantuan black hole 30 billion times the mass of the sun is one of the largest ever discovered

By Ben Turner published

Astronomers used gravitational lensing and supercomputers to identify the colossal black hole, which is among the largest ever found.

123456789Archives