Artist impression of a glowing 'little red dot' surrounded by dust. (Xuanyu Han/Getty Images)The James Webb Space Telescope has provided an unprecedented glimpse into the earliest stages of galaxy formation. Alongside these discoveries, it has also unveiled a few unexpected phenomena—among them, the appearance of small, highly redshifted objects known as "little red dots" (LRDs).While...
Credit: PixabayUsing multiple NASA telescopes, scientists have conducted a groundbreaking survey to detect both visible and hidden supermassive black holes—colossal objects billions of times more massive than the Sun. Nearly every large galaxy is thought to harbor one at its core, yet directly counting them is impossible. Instead, astronomers analyze smaller samples to estimate...
Palomar 5, a seemingly calm star cluster, may hide a swarm of over 100 stellar-mass black holes. Spanning 30,000 light-years and located 80,000 light-years away, it provides clues about star cluster evolution and tidal stream formation. Unique in its loose structure and 20-degree tidal stream, Palomar 5 contrasts with typical dense globular clusters of...
Credit: DepositphotosEstimating the quantity of black holes poses a challenge due to their indirect detectability.Nonetheless, astronomers are diligently working to ascertain the count of black holes in space. Before addressing the question, "How Many Black Holes Are There?" it's crucial to note three types: stellar, intermediate, and supermassive. Each type displays distinct properties...
Black hole. Credit: Unsplash.Joseph Simon, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, employed computer simulations to make predictions about the masses of the largest supermassive black holes existing in the universe.In a press statement, Simon highlighted the substantial mass of the black hole situated...
This artist’s impression depicts a star being torn apart by an intermediate-mass black hole, surrounded by an accretion disk. Image credit: Hubble / NASA / ESA / M. Kornmesser.According to space experts, there is a possibility of the existence of intermediate-mass black holes. These are black holes that can consume some of the stray...
Two interacting galaxies viewed from the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage TeamA research study led by the College of Southampton has shown how supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are feeding off gas clouds that reach them by traveling hundreds of thousands of light yrs from one galaxy to another.A worldwide team of scientists has...
This artist's conception shows a late-stage galaxy merger and its two newly-discovered central black holes. The binary black holes are the closest together ever observed in multiple wavelengths. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); M. Weiss, NRAO/AUI/NSFAstronomers have found two ghostly Goliaths en route to a catastrophic meeting. The newly found pair of supermassive black holes are...
