Tag Archive for 'Supermassive black hole'

This image shows NGC 4889 (largest object) in front of hundreds of background galaxies. Image credit: NASA / ESA.

NGC 4889: Hubble Focuses on Distant Elliptical Galaxy

Feb 17, 2016 by News Staff

This incredible image, taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the giant elliptical galaxy...

Messier 51 (M51) system of galaxies: the main panel shows M51 in visible light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (red, green, and blue); the box at the top outlines the field of view by Chandra in the latest study, which focuses on the smaller component of M51, NGC 5195; the inset to the right shows the details of the Chandra data (blue) of this region. Dr Schlegel and co-authors found a pair of arcs in X-ray emission close to the center of NGC 5195, which they interpret as two outbursts from the galaxy’s supermassive black. They estimate that it took about one to three million years for the inner arc to reach its current position, and three to six million years for the outer arc. Image credit: X-ray – NASA / CXC / University of Texas / E.Schlegel et al; optical – NASA / STScI.

Chandra Spots Very Active Supermassive Black Hole 26 Million Light-Years Away

Jan 8, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

One of the nearest supermassive black holes to Earth with active powerful outbursts has been discovered by a team of astronomers using NASA’s Chandra...

This composite image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory shows the galaxy SDSS J112659.54+294442.8. The arrow points to the black hole that lost most of its stars due to gravitational stripping processes. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Team / Chandra Team / Julia M. Comerford et al.

Astronomers Find Unusual Pair of Black Holes in Distant Galaxy

Jan 6, 2016 by News Staff

A team of astronomers led by Dr Julia Comerford of the University of Colorado, Boulder, has spotted a rare pair of black holes in a distant galaxy known...

This image from Hubble’s WFPC2 camera shows the spiral galaxy NGC 4845. The galaxy’s orientation clearly reveals the galaxy’s striking spiral structure: a flat and dust-mottled disc surrounding a bright galactic bulge. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / S. Smartt, Queen's University Belfast.

NGC 4845: Hubble Space Telescope Sees Large Spiral Galaxy

Jan 4, 2016 by Natali Anderson

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken an incredible picture of the large spiral galaxy NGC 4845. This image from Hubble’s WFPC2 camera shows the...

Blazars are the most common sources detected by NASA’s Fermi telescope. As matter falls toward a supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center, some of it is accelerated outward at nearly the speed of light along jets pointed in opposite directions. When one of the jets happens to be aimed in the direction of Earth, as illustrated here, the galaxy appears especially bright and is classified as a blazar. Image credit: M. Weiss / CfA.

Astronomers Detect High-Energy Gamma Rays from Blazar 7.6 Billion Light-Years Away

Dec 16, 2015 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Fermi Space Telescope, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) in Arizona, and other telescopes, astronomers...

This artist’s impression shows a supermassive black hole consuming a star that has been torn apart by the black hole’s gravity; as a result of this ‘meal’ the black hole begins to launch a powerful jet that astronomers can detect with radio telescopes. Image credit: NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center / Swift.

Astronomers Spot Unusual Jet from Supermassive Black Hole in PGC 43234

Nov 26, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A group of scientists, led by Dr Sjoert van Velzen of Johns Hopkins University, has observed a new way for plasma to escape the gravitational pull of a...

A supermassive black hole is depicted in this artist’s concept, surrounded by a swirling disk of material falling onto it. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Find Clue to How Supermassive Black Holes Emit X-ray Flares

Oct 29, 2015 by News Staff

In 2014, NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and the agency’s Swift satellite observed an X-flare from the supermassive black hole...

ASASSN-14li: X-Ray Telescopes Catch Supermassive Black Hole Shredding Star to Pieces

Oct 22, 2015 by News Staff

Using a trio of X-ray telescopes, astronomers have observed material being blown away from a supermassive black hole after it tore a star apart. The event...

Vista Magellanic Clouds Survey view of the galaxy SAGE0536AGN (elliptical object in the center of the frame). Image credit: ESO / VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey / Royal Astronomical Society.

Monster Black Hole Found 2.3 Billion Light-Years Away

Sep 25, 2015 by News Staff

A team of astronomers from the UK has discovered a black hole of 350 million solar masses at the center of the galaxy SAGE1C J053634.78−722658.5 (SAGE0536AGN...

The upper two panels of this graphic represent a possible explanation for a recent increase in X-ray flares from Sagittarius A* seen by three X-ray telescopes. As part of a long monitoring campaign, astronomers observed the black hole as a mysterious object called G2 appeared to pass close to the black hole. The timing of G2’s passage could suggest that material from G2 caused the surge in X-ray activity, but it is also possible that this unrelated behavior of Sagittarius A*. The bottom panel is a view of the region around the black hole where red, green, and blue represent low, medium, and high-energy X-rays detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Sagittarius A* itself is not visible in this image, but is embedded in the white dot at the end of the arrow. Image credit: NASA / CXC / MPE / G.Ponti et al. / M.Weiss.

X-Ray Observations of Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole Reveal Unusual Activity

Sep 24, 2015 by News Staff

A long monitoring campaign of the Milky Way’s black hole, called Sagittarius A*, has revealed some unusual activity. Typically relatively quiet, the...

Two black holes are entwined in a gravitational tango in this artist’s conception. Image credit: NASA.

Binary Supermassive Black Holes May Be Rarer Than Thought

Sep 22, 2015 by News Staff

There may be fewer supermassive black hole binaries at the cores of galaxies than previously thought, says a team of scientists from Brandeis University...

Artist’s depiction of a black hole merger. Image credit: NASA / CXC / A. Hobart / Josh Barnes, University of Hawaii / John Hibbard, NRAO.

Astronomers Find Closest Pair of Supermassive Black Holes

Sep 17, 2015 by News Staff

A team of U.S. astronomers has found the closest pair of supermassive black holes ever discovered in the Universe. Artist’s depiction of a black hole...

This Hubble image shows the extraordinary galaxy Markarian 231. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / Hubble Collaboration / A. Evans, University of Virginia, Charlottesville / NRAO / Stony Brook University.

Supermassive Binary Black Hole Found in Nearest Quasar Markarian 231

Aug 27, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of astrophysicists and astronomers, led by Dr Youjun Lu of the National Astronomical Observatories of China, has found a supermassive...

X-ray view of the central region of our Milky Way Galaxy. This image was put together in a new study by compiling all observations of this region that were performed with ESA’s XMM-Newton, adding up to over one month of monitoring in total. The image combines data collected at energies from 0.5 to 2 keV (shown in red), 2 to 4.5 keV (shown in green) and 4.5 to 12 keV (shown in blue). It spans about 2.5 degrees across, equivalent to about 1,000 light-years. Image credit: ESA / XMM-Newton / G. Ponti et al.

XMM-Newton Snaps Stunning X-ray Portraits of Milky Way’s Central Region

Aug 22, 2015 by News Staff

New images from ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory reveal some of the most intense processes taking place at the hearth of our Milky Way Galaxy. X-ray...

These Hubble images show elliptical galaxies with dark, wispy dust lanes, the signature of a recent galaxy merger. The dust is the only relic of a smaller galaxy that was consumed by the larger elliptical galaxy. The X in the images marks the location of supernova explosions that are associated with the galaxies. Each supernova may have been gravitationally kicked out of its host galaxy by a pair of central supermassive black holes. When two galaxies merge, so do their supermassive black holes. Prof Foley suggests the supernovae were stars that were once part of double-star systems. These systems wandered too close to the binary black holes, which ejected them from their galaxies. Eventually, the stars in each system moved close enough together to trigger a supernova blast. These outcast supernovae are located at various distances from their home galaxies. SN 2000ds (left) is at least 12,000 light-years from its galaxy, NGC 2768; SN 2005cz (right) is at least 7,000 light-years from its galaxy, NGC 4589. NGC 2768 resides 75 million light-years from Earth, and NGC 4589 is 108 million light-years away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / R. Foley, University of Illinois.

Astronomer Throws Light on Origins of Outcast Supernovae

Aug 16, 2015 by News Staff

Outcast supernovae that explode all alone in space present a scientific mystery. Prof Ryan Foley from the University of Illinois has developed a theory...

RGG 118: Astronomers Find Smallest Known Supermassive Black Hole

Aug 12, 2015 by News Staff

A team of astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the 6.5-m Clay Telescope in Chile has found the smallest supermassive black hole ever...

This illustration shows a black hole that grew faster than its host galaxy. Image credit: Michael S. Helfenbein / Yale University.

Astronomers Discover Monstrous Black Hole in Early Universe

Jul 13, 2015 by News Staff

A multinational team of astronomers has spotted an oversized black hole in the center of a typical star-forming galaxy, called CID-947. This illustration...

NuSTAR Discovers Five Hidden Black Holes

Jul 6, 2015 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) space observatory, astronomers have detected X-rays from five supermassive black holes previously...

In this image, the larger-scale structure of NGC 1097 is easily visible. Image credit: ESO / R. Gendler.

Astronomers Measure Mass of Supermassive Black Hole in NGC 1097

Jun 18, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, a network of several dozen radio dishes located in the high-elevation desert...

This image of Messier 84 does not show the whole galaxy but only its very interesting center, and is likely to be the best image of the region ever captured. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA.

Hubble Space Telescope Sees Mysterious Galaxy Messier 84

Jun 1, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have photographed an unusual galaxy called Messier 84. This image of Messier 84 does not show the...

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