Black Holes

Gigantic black holes lurk at the center of virtually every galaxy, including ours, but we've lacked a precise picture of what impact they have on their surroundings. However, a University of Chicago-led group of scientists has used data from a recently launched satellite to reveal our clearest look yet into the boiling, seething gas surrounding two supermassive black holes, each located in the center of massive galaxy clusters.

In 2023, a subatomic particle called a neutrino crashed into Earth with such a high amount of energy that it should have been impossible. In fact, there are no known sources anywhere in the universe capable of producing such energy—100,000 times more than the highest-energy particle ever produced by the Large Hadron Collider, the world's most powerful particle accelerator. However, a team of physicists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently hypothesized that something like this could happen when a special kind of black hole, called a "quasi-extremal primordial black hole," explodes.

A new study has connected the famous m87 black hole, the first ever imaged, to its powerful cosmic jet, revealing how it launches particles at near light speed.

Deep in the frozen heart of Antarctica, the South Pole Telescope has been watching one of the most extreme neighborhoods in our galaxy, and it's just caught something extraordinary happening there. Astronomers have detected powerful stellar flares erupting from stars near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. These aren't your average stellar flares, we're talking about energy releases so intense they make our sun's most dramatic outbursts look like flickering candles.

Astronomers have traced the origin point of a jet of material that is thousands of light-years long emanating from the supermassive black hole M87*

Researchers at KAIST have developed a breakthrough technology that could dramatically improve our ability to image black holes and other distant objects. The team created an ultra precise reference signal system using optical frequency comb lasers to synchronise multiple radio telescopes with unprecedented accuracy. This laser based approach solves long standing problems with phase calibration that have plagued traditional electronic methods, particularly at higher observation frequencies.

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"It is amazing to see that we are gradually moving towards combining these breakthrough observations across multiple frequencies and completing the picture of the jet launching region."

Author(s): A. G. Abac et al. (The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, The Virgo Collaboration, and The KAGRA Collaboration)An analysis of a record-breaking gravitational-wave detection tests whether general relativity holds under extreme conditions. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 041403] Published Thu Jan 29, 2026

During cocoon phase, young, supermassive black holes are surrounded by high-density gas.

Recent James Webb Space Telescope data confirms a decade-old theory that the universe's earliest supermassive black holes formed without stars.

Last year, astronomers were fascinated by a runaway asteroid passing through our solar system from somewhere far beyond. It was moving at around 68 kilometers per second, just over double Earth's speed around the sun.

When astronomers look out into the cosmos, they see supermassive black holes (SMBH) in two different states. In one state, they're dormant. They're actively accreting only a tiny amount of matter and emit only faint, weak radiation. In the other, they're more actively accreting matter and emitting extremely powerful radiation. These are normally called active galactic nuclei (AGN).

Some galaxies eject powerful streams of charged particles—jets—from their centers into space. The prominent jet of Messier 87 (M87) in the constellation Virgo is visible over distances of 3,000 light-years and can be observed over the full electromagnetic spectrum. It is powered by the central engine, the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy with a mass of around 6 billion times that of our sun. The exact location around the black hole where the jets originate is still unknown.

Observations with the Event Horizon Telescope enable researchers to localize the likely base of the central outflow in a massive galaxy.

Supermassive black holes grow larger by accreting matter. When they're actively accreting matter they're called active galactic nuclei (AGN). AGN are the most luminous sources of persistent radiation in the Universe, yet they turn on and off as the SMBH passes through quiet and active phases. Astronomers have found one that is just turning on its powerful jets after a long period of dormancy.

Why are SMBH in the early Universe so massive? According to astrophysical models, these extraordinarily large SMBH haven't had time to become so massive. Super-Eddington accretion might explain it, but can it explain a very unusual early SMBH recently discovered?

"It is exciting to think that Little Red Dots may represent the first direct observational evidence of the birth of the most massive black holes in the universe."

Astronomers may have finally cracked one of the universe’s biggest mysteries: how black holes grew so enormous so fast after the Big Bang. New simulations show that early, chaotic galaxies created perfect conditions for small “baby” black holes to go on extreme growth spurts, devouring gas at astonishing rates. These feeding frenzies allowed modest black holes—once thought too puny to matter—to balloon into monsters tens of thousands of times the Sun’s mass.

Radio images captured this “cosmic volcano” being reborn at the heart of the galaxy J1007+3540

Astronomers have spotted a rare, rule-breaking quasar in the early Universe that appears to be growing its central black hole at an astonishing pace. Observations show the black hole is devouring matter far faster than theory says it should—about 13 times the usual “speed limit”—while simultaneously blasting out bright X-rays and launching a powerful radio jet. This surprising combination wasn’t supposed to happen, according to many models, and suggests scientists may be catching the black hole during a brief, unstable growth spurt.

Combining observations from several powerful telescopes, astronomers have detected a gargantuan, 'wobbling' black hole outburst that's as wide as an entire galaxy.

For years, the James Webb Space Telescope has been spotting enormous black holes in the early universe that defy all expectations. Now, astronomers are finally deciphering the origins of these cosmic behemoths.

Primordial black holes could rewrite our understanding of dark matter and the early universe. A record-breaking detection at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea has some physicists wondering if we just spotted one. The post Monster Neutrino Could Be a Messenger of Ancient Black Holes first appeared on Quanta Magazine

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"It is exciting to think that Little Red Dots may represent the first direct observational evidence of the birth of the most massive black holes in the universe."

An international research team led by scientists at Waseda University and Tohoku University has discovered an extraordinary quasar in the early universe that hosts one of the fastest-growing supermassive black holes known at this mass scale. Observations with the Subaru Telescope reveal a striking, rule-breaking combination: the quasar is undergoing extremely rapid accretion while simultaneously shining brightly in X-rays and producing strong radio emission from a jet—features that many theoretical models do not expect to coexist. This unexpected juxtaposition of phenomena offers a new perspective on how supermassive black holes grow in the early universe.

Author(s): Óscar J. C. Dias and Jorge E. SantosThe dual (3D) black holes that were missing in the study of gravity duals of 2D field theories have been found. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 031501] Published Tue Jan 20, 2026

We now have direct images of two supermassive black holes: M87* and Sag A*. The fact that we can capture such images is remarkable, but they might be the only black holes we can observe. That is, unless we take radio astronomy to a whole new level.

It's one of astronomy's great mysteries: how did black holes get so big, so massive, so quickly. An answer to this cosmic conundrum has now been provided by researchers at Ireland's Maynooth University (MU) and reported today in Nature Astronomy.

The resolution of the Event Horizon Telescope is limited by the diameter of Earth, and our observations of the black hole in M87 and in our own galaxy are at the edge of that limit. To observe other, more distant black holes we will need radio telescopes on the Moon.

Scientists saw an inactive black hole 'reawaken' from a 100-million-year nap with fire and fury.

Learn about J1007+3540, a black hole that has recently come back to life and is described as a “cosmic volcano.”

A nearby active galaxy called VV 340a offers a dramatic look at how a supermassive black hole can reshape its entire host. Astronomers observed a relatively weak but restless jet blasting outward from the galaxy’s core, wobbling like a spinning top as it plows through surrounding gas. Using a powerful mix of space- and ground-based telescopes, the team showed that this jet heats, ionizes, and flings gas out of the galaxy at a surprisingly high rate.

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Astronomers at the University of Warwick have discovered that black holes don’t just consume matter—they manage it, choosing whether to blast it into space as high-speed jets or sweep it away in vast winds.

"It's like watching a cosmic volcano erupt again after ages of calm — except this one is big enough to carve out structures stretching nearly a million light-years across space."

"Instead of Webb's 6.5-meter diameter, it's like we are observing this region with a 13-meter space telescope."

The James Webb Space Telescope snapped its sharpest image of the area around a black hole, solving a long-standing galactic mystery.

Astronomers have spotted one of the oldest ‘dead’ galaxies yet identified, and found that a growing supermassive black

A new census of more than 8,000 galaxies finds active black holes rising in frequency with galaxy mass, jumping sharply in galaxies similar in mass to the Milky Way.

Astronomers capture a massive black hole waking up like a 'cosmic volcano' after lying dormant for 100 million years.

Puzzling red spots in images from the James Webb Space Telescope are probably young supermassive black holes obscured by dense cocoons of gas

Since launching in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope has found hundreds of distant and apparently bright galaxies dubbed "little red dots", and now it seems they may each carry a baby black hole

One of the most vivid portraits of 'reborn' black hole activity - likened to the eruption of a 'cosmic volcano' spreading almost one million light-years across space - has been captured in a gigantic radio galaxy.

Radio telescopes are instruments that capture faint radio signals from space and convert them into images of celestial bodies. To observe distant black holes clearly, multiple radio telescopes must capture cosmic signals at exactly the same time, acting as a single unit. Research teams at KAIST have developed a new reference signal technology that uses laser light to precisely synchronize the observation timing and phase of these telescopes.

One of the most vivid portraits of "reborn" black hole activity—likened to the eruption of a "cosmic volcano" spreading almost 1 million light-years across space—has been captured in a gigantic radio galaxy.

Learn how fleeting red points seen in the early universe mark a brief growth phase of young black holes hidden inside dense gas.

"If they were purely made up of stars, they would be the densest galaxies in the universe."

"Our study provides a new direction to understand the whole evolutionary history of massive stars toward the formation of black hole binaries."

The gaseous cocoons surrounding "little red dots" hint at their true nature, a new James Webb telescope study hints.

"We're seeing what could be described as an energetic tug-of-war inside the black hole's accretion flow."

A supermassive black hole embedded in an early galaxy likely starved the galaxy of gas needed to form young stars, new observations revealed.

Scientists have discovered more than 6,000 planets beyond our solar system. What if some of them aren't planets at all, but tiny black holes in disguise?

New research suggests that the x-ray light coming from the Milky Way’s central black hole Sagittarius A* has changed dramatically in the span of just a few hundred years

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Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA have discovered one of the oldest ‘dead’ galaxies in the universe, revealing that supermassive black holes can kill galaxies through slow starvation rather than violent destruction. The galaxy, nicknamed ‘Pablo’s Galaxy’, formed most of its 200 billion solar masses of stars between 12.5 and 11.5 billion years ago before abruptly stopping, not because its black hole blew away all the gas in one catastrophic event, but because it repeatedly heated incoming material over multiple cycles, preventing fresh fuel from ever replenishing the galaxy’s star forming reserves.

"It points to a slow starvation rather than a single dramatic death blow."

Learn how a supermassive black hole has prevented a dead galaxy that was born soon after the Big Bang from making new stars.

"This result shows that the Event Horizon Telescope is not only useful for producing spectacular images, but can also be used to understand the physics that govern black hole jets."

What we know of the birth of a black hole has traditionally aligned with our perception of black holes themselves: dark, mysterious, and eerily quiet, despite their mass and influence. Stellar-mass black holes are born from the final gravitational collapse of massive stars several tens of the mass of our sun which, unlike less massive stars, do not produce bright, supernova explosions.

Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island have uncovered the largest and most extended stream of super-heated gas ever observed flowing from a nearby galaxy, providing the clearest evidence yet that a supermassive black hole can dramatically reshape its host galaxy far beyond its core.

Astronomers at the University of Warwick have discovered that black holes don't just consume matter—they manage it, choosing whether to blast it into space as high-speed jets or sweep it away in vast winds.

A distant black hole shredded a companion star that got too close. The star was torn to pieces and the explosion was an extremely powerful event, more energetic than a supernova. At its peak, the energy released was 400 billion times brighter than the Sun.

"This is a structure we've never seen before, so it could be a new class of dark object."

Astronomers have spotted one of the oldest "dead" galaxies yet identified, and found that a growing supermassive black hole can slowly starve a galaxy rather than tear it apart.

The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), a joint mission between the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA, launched on Sept. 7th, 2023. Its advanced imaging filters and spectrometers were designed to study black holes and neutron stars and detect the hot plasma in the intergalactic medium. Alongside the European Space Agency's (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission Newton (XMM-Newton) and NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), XRISM has provided the sharpest-ever X-ray spectrum of the iconic MCG–6-30-15.

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Jan. 10, 2025: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

The supermassive black hole in the Milky Way's galactic center, Sagittarius A-star, is known for being quiet and dim. But that wasn't always the case. The powerful XRISM x-ray telescope shows that it flared brightly at least once in the very recent past.

Astronomers have long puzzled over how some massive galaxies stop forming stars and remain dormant for billions of years—even when they still contain gas that could, in principle, fuel new stars.

Astronomers have completed the most comprehensive census of active galactic nuclei (AGN) to date, providing the clearest picture yet of the probability that galaxies of different sizes host active black holes.

"Nothing in my professional training as an X-ray astronomer had prepared me for something like this."

A wobbling jet from a giant, voracious black hole is suppressing star formation in a distant galaxy—and astronomers have never seen anything quite like it before

Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island have uncovered the largest and most extended stream of super-heated gas ever observed flowing from a nearby galaxy, providing the clearest evidence yet that a supermassive black hole can dramatically reshape its host galaxy far beyond its core.

JWST peered at the glowing trail of stars left behind by a candidate runaway supermassive black hole deep in space, revealing new insights after other telescopes looked at the event.

"This was many times more energetic than any similar event and more than any known explosion powered by the collapse of a star."

Two weeks, two major data leaks … not a good look for the European Space Agency exclusive  The European Space Agency on Wednesday confirmed yet another massive security breach, and told The Register that the data thieves responsible will be subject to a criminal investigation. And this could be a biggie.…

Our galaxy's supermassive black hole is famous for being one of the dimmest in the universe. Evidence from a new space telescope shows that might not always have been the case.

Using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) have revealed the universe's most mysterious distant objects, known as little red dots, may actually be gigantic, short-lived stars.

A black hole has shredded a massive star like it was "preparing a snack for lunch," according to a team of scientists at the American Astronomical Society's annual meeting (5–8 January).

Astronomers have directly observed a spinning black hole twisting spacetime, confirming a century-old prediction of Einstein's theory of relativity.

Nearly every galaxy has a supermassive black hole in its core. Whether the black hole forms first and then the galaxy around it—or the other way around—is still a matter of some debate, but we know the evolution of both are deeply connected. We can use that relationship to study the black holes.

Astronomers have obtained the sharpest-ever X-ray spectrum of an iconic active galaxy, providing the most accurate, precise view ever obtained of the extreme relativistic effects imprinted onto the spacetime around a supermassive black hole.