Tag Archive for 'Supermassive 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...

This artist’s impression illustrates how high-speed jets from supermassive black holes would look. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / L. Calçada, ESO.

New Study Finds Link between Black Holes with Relativistic Jets, Galactic Mergers

May 29, 2015 by News Staff

A new study, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (arXiv.org preprint), finds a link between the presence of supermassive black holes...

In this image of the central region of the elliptical galaxy NGC 3862, an extragalactic jet of material moving at nearly the speed of light can be seen at the three o’clock position. The jet of ejected plasma is powered by energy from a supermassive black hole at NGC 3862’s center. A sequence of Hubble images of knots (in red, green, and blue) shows them moving along the jet over a 20-year span of observing. Astronomers were surprised to discover that the central knot (green) caught up with and merged with the knot in front of it (blue). Image credit: NASA / ESA / E. Meyer, STScI.

Hubble Focuses on Extragalactic Jet

May 29, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have observed a collision between two knots of ejected matter in the extragalactic jet blasting out...

This image shows NGC 6240. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage / STScI / AURA / Hubble Collaboration / A. Evans, University of Virginia / NRAO / Stony Brook University.

Hubble Space Telescope Zooms in on NGC 6240

May 18, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured an image of a titanic...

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

Astronomers Discover Extremely Close Pair of Supermassive Black Holes

Apr 21, 2015 by News Staff

A group of astronomers led by Tingting Liu of the University of Maryland has discovered a pulsing light signal that hints at a close pair of supermassive...

This image shows an artistic representation of an active supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy. Image credit: ESA / ATG medialab.

Astronomers See Supermassive Black Hole in Action

Mar 30, 2015 by News Staff

A team of astronomers, led by Dr Francesco Tombesi of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland, has observed two related phenomena...

This composite image shows the motion of the dusty cloud G2 as it closes in, and then passes, Sagittarius A* - the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole. Image credit: A. Eckart / ESO.

G2: Astronomers Observe Mysterious Dusty Cloud at Milky Way’s Center

Mar 29, 2015 by News Staff

A group of astronomers headed by Dr Andreas Eckart from the University of Cologne, Germany, has made the best observations so far of a dusty red object...

This image shows SDSS J0100+2802 (center), the brightest quasar in the early Universe. Image credit: Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

Astronomers Discover Record-Breaking Quasar

Feb 25, 2015 by News Staff

A group of astronomers from the United States, China, Chile, and Australia, has discovered the brightest quasar in the early Universe, powered by the most...

Supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies blast radiation and ultra-fast winds outward, as illustrated in this artist's conception, based on an image of the Pinwheel galaxy from Hubble. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NuSTAR and XMM-Newton Space Telescopes Capture Ultra-Fast Black Hole Winds

Feb 23, 2015 by News Staff

Using ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) X-ray telescopes, astronomers have discovered that the super-fast...

Resembling looming rain clouds on a stormy day, dark lanes of dust crisscross the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 5128, also known as Centaurus A. The warped shape of NGC 5128’s disk of gas and dust is evidence for a past collision and merger with another galaxy. The resulting shockwaves cause hydrogen gas clouds to compress, triggering a firestorm of new star formation. At a distance of just over 11 million light-years, NGC 5128 contains the closest active galactic nucleus to Earth. The center is home for a supermassive black hole that ejects jets of high-speed gas into space, but neither the supermassive black hole or the jets are visible in this image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage / STScI / AURA / Hubble Collaboration / R. O'Connell, University of Virginia / WFC3 Scientific Oversight Committee.

Dark Matter Influences Growth of Galaxies’ Central Supermassive Black Holes

Feb 20, 2015 by News Staff

A new study of elliptical galaxies led by Dr Akos Bogdan of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has revealed a surprising link between galaxies’...

This artist’s concept shows a changing look quasar. Image credit: Michael Helfenbein / Yale University.

Astronomers Discover First ‘Changing Look’ Quasar

Jan 23, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Dr Stephanie LaMassa of Yale Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics has identified the first changing look quasar, a gleaming...

This graphic shows how Hubble probed the light from the quasar PDS 456 to analyze the Fermi Bubbles. The quasar's light passed through one of the bubbles; imprinted on that light is information about the outflow's speed, composition, and eventually mass. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Field, STScI.

Astronomers Probe Milky Way’s Mysterious Fermi Bubbles

Jan 9, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have measured for the first time the velocity and composition of giant, balloon-like features known...

This Hubble/ALMA composite image shows the nearby lenticular galaxy NGC 1266; ALMA data are orange. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / ALMA / NRAO / ESO / NAOJ.

‘Perfect Storm’ Prevents Star Formation in Lenticular Galaxy NGC 1266

Dec 18, 2014 by News Staff

By observing the dust and gas at the center of NGC 1266, a team of astronomers led by Dr Katherine Alatalo of the California Institute of Technology in...

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