Supermassive black holes that shred and devour stars throw them up like a "bad curry" and cover themselves in the wreckage, sick new simulations reveal.
Stars that wander too close to supermassive black holes may be violently undone in a process called "spaghettification." New simulations provide the most detailed look ever at the gory interaction.
The "deaths" of galaxies are caused by their central supermassive black holes, and the "smoking gun" evidence of this connection takes an unexpected form.
Monash University astronomers have contributed to a breakthrough in understanding the dramatic fate of stars that wander too close to supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies.
If a star gets too close to a black hole, it gets shredded and produces a complex ball of light. These videos are the first time this dramatic event has been simulated in detail.
New findings reveal a star’s perilous journey around a supermassive black hole, resulting in periodic disruptions and intense light emissions, helping astronomers predict future cosmic events. Astronomers have correctly predicted when a…
A new study helps solve the "final parsec problem" that has made supermassive black hole formation impossible to explain, pointing to a strange form of dark matter as the key.
Using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and ESA's XMM-Newton, researchers have gained significant insights into the timing and process of how a supermassive black hole consumes material, as…
By using new data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory as well as ESA's XMM-Newton, a team of researchers has made important headway in understanding how—and when—a supermassive black hole obtains and…
Small pairs of binary black holes could be used to play hide-and-seek' with elusive supermassive black hole binaries via gravitational waves carry the "baritone singing" of these cosmic titans.
An international team of astrophysicists, including researchers from the University of Zurich, has developed a novel method to detect pairs of supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. This new approach involves analyzing…
In 1974, astronomers Bruce Balick and Robert L. Brown discovered a powerful radio source at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The source, Sagittarius A*, was subsequently revealed to be a supermassive black hole (SMBH) with a mass of…
Scientists used the James Webb Space Telescope to capture views of the spiral galaxy NGC 4258. They spotted the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's center actively eating cosmic material.
By examining a distant supermassive black hole, astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have found a shocking link between jets and dust around these cosmic titans.