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Most newborn black holes spew gas so hard they almost stop spinning

12 February 2024

When black holes are born from collapsing stars, they emit a short-lived jet that may slow down the black hole’s rotation to nearly a standstill

Hundreds of weird filaments of gas are hiding in our galaxy’s centre

2 June 2023

Astronomers have found strange strings of hot gas near the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, and they may be hurtling towards Earth

One star being eaten by another will take revenge as a black hole

26 April 2023

Astronomers have found one huge star eating another, but the smaller star is predicted to eventually become a black hole and go on to feed off its companion

A new image of a supermassive black hole has revealed more of the disc of matter falling into it and the powerful winds created by that process. The black hole in question is called M87*, and it was the subject of the first direct image of a black hole ? this new data will help researchers complete the picture.

Detailed image of supermassive black hole shows its powerful jet

26 April 2023

An image of a black hole called M87* shows never-before-seen details of matter falling into its centre and a jet shooting out of it, which has given astronomers a better understanding of the dynamics around this behemoth

A supermassive black hole is hurtling away from its home galaxy

7 April 2023

For the first time, researchers have spotted what appears to be a supermassive black hole flying away from its home galaxy at incredible speeds, trailing bursts of star formation behind it

We may finally know how Hawking's black hole paradox could be solved

31 March 2023

Under the laws of quantum mechanics, information about what has fallen into a black hole cannot be destroyed, and now researchers claim they have figured out how it is preserved

The lonely galaxy containing a supermassive black hole, two jets, and an X-ray hotspot, all surrounded by hot gas

Galaxy may have eaten all its neighbours and now it's all alone

15 March 2023

Astronomers have spotted an object with all the hallmarks of a galaxy cluster, but containing only one galaxy – hinting it may have swallowed up all of its neighbours

An illustration of GRB 221009. A black hole drives powerful jets of particles traveling near the speed of light. The jets pierce through the star, emitting X-rays and gamma rays as they stream into space

A weird gamma ray burst doesn't fit our understanding of the cosmos

7 December 2022

Astronomers have spotted a strange blast of gamma radiation from space that defies categorisation, and it may mean a gap in our understanding of how black holes form

F6ND3J An artist's depiction of a black hole in interstellar space pulling in gas and dust that start to heat. Gamma ray bursts exit at

We may finally know how blazars act as cosmic particle accelerators

23 November 2022

Supermassive black holes that beam powerful jets of matter towards Earth, known as blazars, accelerate particles to extraordinarily high energies – and astronomers have finally figured out how

How to tell the difference between a regular black hole and a wormhole

15 November 2022

Physicists have worked out how to see whether a black hole is actually a wormhole that could theoretically be travelled through – but we can’t tell yet with the black holes we have observed