Exotic Objects | Astronomy.com

Black hole caught snacking on star far from host galaxy’s center

Alison Klesman — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 16:41:42 +0000

For the first time, astronomers have detected intense, fast-changing radio signals from a tidal disruption event, dubbed AT2024tvd, located outside its galaxy’s core. Now, astronomers are trying to understand what the black hole is doing 2,600 light-years from where they expected it to be, what its strange signals mean, and whether there are more off-kilterContinue reading "Black hole caught snacking on star far from host galaxy’s center"

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Supermassive black hole seen feeding via a pair of spiral arms

Brooks Mendenhall — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 15:41:00 +0000

For the first time, astronomers have gotten a detailed look at how a supermassive black hole (SMBH) eats, discovering two large spiral arms of gas that are funneling its meals inward. The finding, made using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, has been accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. It offers aContinue reading "Supermassive black hole seen feeding via a pair of spiral arms"

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What a mission to a black hole could look like

Kiona Smith — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 14:15:57 +0000

Voyager 2 has traveled farther than any spacecraft. It’s a little more than 12.4 billion miles (20 billion kilometers) away, just beyond the edge of our solar system. But Fudan University astrophysicist Cosimo Bambi is already thinking about how we might study black holes a generation from now: by sending tiny spacecraft on a decades-longContinue reading "What a mission to a black hole could look like"

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‘Strange binary’: Astronomers discover a pulsar and a helium star orbiting each other

Alison Klesman — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Astronomers have spotted a rare cosmic duo: a neutron star that rotates nearly a hundred times every second locked in an ultra-tight orbit with a semi-shredded star. The scientists who found the pair say one of these stars swallowed the other whole and then spat it back out. It’s the first discovery of a millisecondContinue reading "‘Strange binary’: Astronomers discover a pulsar and a helium star orbiting each other"

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Astronomers have discovered the Big Wheel — here’s why it’s significant

Daniela Mata — Wed, 14 May 2025 17:13:13 +0000

Deep observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed an exceptionally large galaxy in the early universe. It’s a cosmic giant whose light has travelled over 12 billion years to reach us. We’ve dubbed it the Big Wheel, with our findings published March 17 in Nature Astronomy. This giant disk galaxy existed withinContinue reading "Astronomers have discovered the Big Wheel — here’s why it’s significant"

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A speeding pulsar may have ‘broken’ this cosmic bone

Daniela Mata — Mon, 05 May 2025 21:59:21 +0000

The Milky Way Galaxy is full of cosmic objects of varying shapes and sizes — sometimes resembling objects here on Earth. A galactic center radio filament called G359.13142-0.20005 (or G359.13 for short) is seen here in X-ray (blue) and radio (gray) light. Astronomers have likened the 230 light-year-long structure to a cosmic “bone” perpendicular toContinue reading "A speeding pulsar may have ‘broken’ this cosmic bone"

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Do black holes exist forever?

Astronomy Staff — Mon, 05 May 2025 18:00:00 +0000

Do black holes exist forever? If not, how do they die? If yes, is the number of black holes in the universe always increasing? Eliot H. GinsbergRiverview, Florida Black holes are known for their voracious appetites, consuming everything — even light — that falls inside them with no hope of escape. But in 1974, StephenContinue reading "Do black holes exist forever?"

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Astronomers find a strange pulsar blinking in slow motion

Alison Klesman — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 18:08:32 +0000

About 2,600 light-years away, a dead star is sending signals from beyond the grave. Astronomers recently found the strange beacon, which appears to be a pulsar blinking in slow motion — something that shouldn’t be possible. “It’s incredibly exciting to discover such a long-period pulsar,” says Yuanming Wang, a postdoctoral researcher at Swinburne University inContinue reading "Astronomers find a strange pulsar blinking in slow motion"

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This dead star is still sending us radio signals

Alison Klesman — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 15:09:24 +0000

Astronomers have finally identified the source of mysterious radio waves from deep space, tracing the signals back to an unusual stellar pair locked in a swift orbit, flashing out their location for the universe to hear. In research published March 12 in Nature Astronomy, a team of astrophysicists finally found the source of strange, minute-longContinue reading "This dead star is still sending us radio signals"

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How do neutrino telescopes work?

Alison Klesman — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 21:22:56 +0000

To detect neutrinos, scientists use vast observatories located underground, shielded from cosmic ray interference. These detectors rely on Cherenkov radiation, a bluish light produced when high-speed muons, created by rare neutrino collisions, travel faster than light through water or ice. Photomultiplier tubes amplify this light, allowing astronomers to trace the neutrino’s path and energy.

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