Two teams of researchers using the ALMA telescope have made remarkably detailed observations of supermassive black holes caught in the act of ingesting matter and converting it into powerful jets of particles and energy.
Newly Found Pulsar Helps Astronomers Explore Milky Way’s Mysterious Core
Astronomers have made an important measurement of the magnetic field emanating from a swirling disk of material surrounding the black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy.
ALMA Sees Stars Forming Near Galaxy Core
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have discovered signs of star formation perilously close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Massive Outburst in Neighbor Galaxy
The surprising discovery of a massive outburst in a neighboring galaxy is giving astronomers a tantalizing look at what likely is a powerful belch by a gorging black hole at the galaxy’s center.
Image Release: A Radio-Optical View of the Galaxy Hercules A
Spectacular jets powered by the gravitational energy of a supermassive black hole in the core of the elliptical galaxy Hercules A illustrate the combined imaging power of two of astronomy’s cutting-edge tools, the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3, and the recently upgraded Very Large Array radio telescope in west-central New Mexico.
First Complete Description of a Black Hole
For the first time, astronomers have produced a complete description of a black hole, a concentration of mass so dense that not even light can escape its powerful gravitational pull. Their precise measurements have allowed them to reconstruct the history of the object from its birth some six million years ago.