Black Holes

What do black holes look and sound like? How do they form? And what happens when a person falls into one? The answers to most any black hole question.

Latest in Black Holes

An unlucky massive star approaches a supermassive black hole

Astronomers detect most powerful explosions since Big Bang Astronomers detect most powerful explosions since Big Bang

Artistic impression of a neutron star that is 'evaporating' slowly via Hawking-like radiation. Credit: Daniëlle Futselaar/artsource.nl

The universe may die sooner than expected The universe may die sooner than expected

A bright disc of purplish, white and gold lines surrounds a black ellipse-shaped area, that looks like a hole in space. A ball of shining material pierces through the disc; an eruption of bright white-to-gold rays encircles the small hole in the disc provoked by the passage of the shining ball

For the first time, astronomers watch a black hole ‘wake up’ in real-time For the first time, astronomers watch a black hole ‘wake up’ in real-time

The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope imaged these giant radio jets stretching 6 million light-years across with an enormous supermassive black hole at the heart of spiral galaxy J23453268-0449256. Could this cosmic anomaly hint at the future of our own Milky Way galaxy? Image via Bagchi and Ray et al/ Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope/ Royal Astronomical Society/

A terrifying fate may lurk inside the Milky Way A terrifying fate may lurk inside the Milky Way

a large orange circle surrounded by a blue square

Astrophysicists surprised by light show around the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole Astrophysicists surprised by light show around the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole

By Laura Baisas

an illustration of a black hole

Enormous black hole napping after eating a ton of gas Enormous black hole napping after eating a ton of gas

By Laura Baisas

a black hole with orange and blue light swirling around it. two other objects, a large orange circle and a smaller bright orange star orbit around it

First ‘black hole triple’ may have formed in a surprisingly gentle way First ‘black hole triple’ may have formed in a surprisingly gentle way

By Laura Baisas

This collage highlights a small selection of regions of the Milky Way imaged as part of the most detailed infrared map ever of our galaxy. Here we see, from left to right and top to bottom: NGC 3576, NGC 6357, Messier 17, NGC 6188, Messier 22 and NGC 3603. All of them are clouds of gas and dust where stars are forming, except Messier 22, which is a very dense group of old stars.

1.5 billion cosmic objects dazzle in the largest infrared Milky Way map ever created 1.5 billion cosmic objects dazzle in the largest infrared Milky Way map ever created

An artist's illustration of the longest black hole jet system ever observed.

Biggest black hole jets ever seen span 140 Milky Way galaxies Biggest black hole jets ever seen span 140 Milky Way galaxies

Two images displaying possible kilonova

Scientists want your help finding black holes with your phone Scientists want your help finding black holes with your phone

Image of Omega Centauri star cluster with black hole and evidence stars highlighted

Astronomers discover Earth’s closest black hole Astronomers discover Earth’s closest black hole

This artist's concept illustrates a supermassive black hole with millions to billions times the mass of our sun. Supermassive black holes are enormously dense objects buried at the hearts of galaxies.

Astronomers use wobbly star stuff to measure a supermassive black hole’s spin Astronomers use wobbly star stuff to measure a supermassive black hole’s spin

By Laura Baisas

an illustration of a black hole with a companion star. the star is bright with a blue line indicating where the black hole is.

Humongous stellar-mass black hole is the biggest ever found in Milky Way Humongous stellar-mass black hole is the biggest ever found in Milky Way

By Laura Baisas

An artist’s impression of quasar J059-4351, the bright core of a distant galaxy that is powered by a supermassive black hole. This quasar has been found to be the most luminous object known in the universe to date.

Fastest-growing black hole eats the equivalent of one sun a day Fastest-growing black hole eats the equivalent of one sun a day

By Laura Baisas

Astronomers found the most distant black hole ever detected in X-rays (in a galaxy dubbed UHZ1) using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope. X-ray emission is a telltale signature of a growing supermassive black hole. This result may explain how some of the first supermassive black holes in the universe formed. These images show the galaxy cluster Abell 2744 that UHZ1 is located behind, in X-rays from Chandra and infrared data from JWST, as well as close-ups of the black hole host galaxy UHZ1.

Farthest black hole ever recorded by astronomers is nearly as old as our universe Farthest black hole ever recorded by astronomers is nearly as old as our universe

By Laura Baisas

Dark black holes merge together in a brown, star-studded illustration.

Gravitational wave detector now squeezes light to find more black holes Gravitational wave detector now squeezes light to find more black holes

An optical image of the galaxy in which the new event occurred, taken from archival PanSTARRS data. The X-ray object was located to somewhere inside the white circle, which is about the size a pinhead 100m away would appear. The position of a 2 year old supernova is also shown.

A newly spotted black hole keeps munching on a star the size of our sun A newly spotted black hole keeps munching on a star the size of our sun

By Laura Baisas

Low-frequency gravitation waves emerging from black hole collision in space. Illustration.

Astronomers used dead stars to detect a new form of ripple in space-time Astronomers used dead stars to detect a new form of ripple in space-time

By Briley Lewis

Astronomers studying a powerful gamma-ray burst (GRB) with the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, may have observed a never-before-seen way to destroy a star. Unlike most GRBs, which are caused by exploding massive stars or the chance mergers of neutron stars, astronomers have concluded that this GRB came instead from the collision of stars or stellar remnants in the jam-packed environment surrounding a supermassive black hole at the core of an ancient galaxy.

Explosive star ‘demolition derby’ observed for the very first time Explosive star ‘demolition derby’ observed for the very first time

By Laura Baisas

A supermassive black hole with a mass many times that of our sun.

A gassy black hole might have burped out the largest cosmic explosion ever A gassy black hole might have burped out the largest cosmic explosion ever