Tag: black holes
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Astronomers Capture Two Supermassive Black Holes Dancing in Binary Orbit
Two Giants in a Gravitational Waltz In a landmark observation, astronomers have captured the rare sight of two supermassive black holes locked in a binary orbit around each other. These cosmic heavyweights, millions to billions of solar masses apiece, are situated at the heart of a distant galaxy and reveal crucial details about how galaxies…
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Unveiling J0529: How Blazing Outflows Shrinked the Universe’s Brightest Quasar Mass by 10x
Revisiting a Cosmic heavyweight J0529 stands as the Universe’s brightest known quasar, a blazing beacon powered by a supermassive black hole that formed not long after the Big Bang. In 2024, estimates pegged its mass at about 10 billion solar masses, a figure that underscored how rapidly supermassive black holes could grow in the early…
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Blazing Outflow Shrinks Mass of Universe’s Brightest Quasar by 10x
Revisiting a Cosmic Beacon The universe’s brightest known quasar, J0529, has puzzled astronomers for years. The object sits in the distant cosmos—nearly 12.5 billion light-years away when the universe was only about 1.5 billion years old—making it a prime target for peering into the early stages of galaxy and black hole growth. A fresh measurement…
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Scientists detect possible wind from the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole
Introduction: A new clue from the heart of the Milky Way For years, the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way—known as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*)—has reminded us that galaxies are not calm, static islands in space. While it is relatively quiet compared with the blazing beasts that light up quasars elsewhere,…
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Wind Blows from the Milky Way’s Black Hole: Evidence Emerges
What the discovery suggests For decades, scientists have watched supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies both consume material and, on occasion, spew it back into space as powerful outflows. While some active galaxies proudly display dramatic jets, our Milky Way’s own Sagittarius A* has long appeared unusually quiet. The latest observations, however, hint…
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Largest catalog of black hole mergers to date is released
Overview: A sweeping update from the gravitational-wave community An international network of observatories has released version 4.0 of its catalog, listing 128 new black hole merger candidates detected during the first phase of the fourth observing run, O4a. This milestone expands the catalog of gravity-echo events captured as ripples in space and time, demonstrating how…
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GWTC 4.0: The Largest Black Hole Merger Catalog to Date
Introduction: A New Milestone in Gravitational-Wave Astronomy International networks of gravitational-wave observatories have released version 4.0 of their catalog, listing 128 new black hole merger candidates detected during the first phase of the fourth observing run, O4a. This update marks the largest catalog of black hole mergers assembled to date and highlights how gravity-based listening…
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GWTC 4.0: The Largest Catalog of Black Hole Mergers Yet Expands Our View of the Cosmos
Overview: A New Milestone in Gravitational-Wave Astronomy The international network of gravitational-wave detectors has released version 4.0 of its catalog, GWTC 4.0, documenting 128 new black hole merger candidates from the first phase of the fourth observing run, known as O4a. This milestone not only broadens the inventory of cosmic collisions but also strengthens the…
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First-Ever Image of Two Supermassive Black Holes Orbiting Each Other Captured in OJ287
Headline Finding: A Milestone in Black Hole Astronomy In a breakthrough that fulfills decades of theoretical speculation, Finnish scientists have captured the first-ever radio image of two supermassive black holes orbiting one another. The discovery, published in The Astrophysical Journal on October 9, centers on the bright quasar OJ287, located roughly 5 billion light-years away…
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Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS: Origins Unveiled and Other Cosmic News
Interstellar Clues: 3I/ATLAS and the Dark Corners of Our Galaxy This week’s science headlines center on a remarkable suspect: comet 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar visitor that crossed the solar system’s edge with a mystery wrapped in stardust. First spotted in late June, 3I/ATLAS has become a beacon for researchers aiming to piece together where it came…