For the first time, scientists have proof two supermassive black holes exist together in the same galaxy, thanks to data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. These black holes are orbiting each other and will merge several hundred million years from now, to create an even larger black hole resulting in a catastrophic event that will unleash intense radiation and gravitational waves.
Avoid spaghetification. Use a simple calculation involving the mass of the black hole, how powerful your rocket is, and how fast you crossed the event horizon, easily doable on a desktop computer.
Our galaxy’s supermassive black hole is responsible for the mysterious gamma-ray emission from the galactic center, a new study suggests. Churning magnetic fields around the monster black hole may act like a giant particle accelerator, leading to high-speed collisions that produce the gamma rays.
Like cold case investigators, astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to uncover evidence of a powerful outburst from the giant black hole at the Milky Way’s center. Astronomers believe a mass equivalent to the planet Mercury was devoured by the black hole about 50 years earlier, causing an X-ray outburst
Nature has again thrown astronomers for a loop. Just when they thought they understood how gamma-ray bursts formed, they have uncovered what appears to be evidence for a new kind of cosmic explosion. These seem to arise when a newly born black hole swallows most of the matter from its doomed parent star.
Astronomers measured the spinning speed of three black holes, finding that one rotates at a breakneck 950 times per second, nearing its theoretical rotation limit of 1,150 spins a second.
10.08Edge of black hole
NASA scientists and their international partners using the new Japanese Suzaku satellite have collected a startling new set of black hole observations, revealing details of twisted space and warped time never before seen with such precision.
NASA scientists using the Swift satellite have conducted the first complete census of galaxies with active, central black holes, a project that scanned the entire sky several times over a nine-month period.
Recent theoretical results have overturned the long-held notion that information cannot escape from a black hole, explains Seth Lloyd. This should come in handy if those guys who are trying to create a black hole get it wrong.