Hidden Jet from a “Missing-Link” Black Hole Lights Up the Radio Sky

Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) have detected an extraordinary burst of radio light from a rare cosmic event in which an intermediate-mass black hole tears apart a star, revealing what appears to be the off-axis afterglow of a powerful jet.

Radio telescopes uncover “invisible” gas around record-shattering cosmic explosion

Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) instruments, the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), have revealed a dense cocoon of gas around one of the most extreme cosmic explosions ever seen, showing that a ravenous black hole ripped apart a massive star and then lit up its surroundings with powerful X-rays.

Astronomers Catch Supermassive Black Hole in the Act of “Waking Up”

Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array (NSF VLBA) and U.S. National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array (NSF VLA) have caught a supermassive black hole in the act of awakening from a long slumber, providing an unprecedented glimpse into the earliest stages of black hole activity.

Decorative Image

Milky Way’s Black Hole Was “Birth Cry” of Radio Astronomy

The new image of the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy made with the Event Horizon Telescope brings radio astronomy back to its celestial birthplace. The EHT image provides the closest look yet at the region from which radio waves from beyond the Earth were first detected in 1932 — by Karl Jansky, the father of radio astronomy.