Latest news with #SagittariusA
Time of India
3 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Black Holes explained: Unraveling the facts of space's cosmic mystery
Black holes are mysterious cosmic objects with gravity which are so strong that even light cannot escape. They form when massive stars collapse under their own gravity creating a dense point called a singularity, surrounded by an event horizon which is the point of no return. The concept of black holes was introduced in 1916 but physicists at the time doubted that such objects could truly exist. Though invisible, black holes can be detected by their effects on nearby matter such as pulling in stars or emitting X-rays. They range in size from stellar to supermassive black holes and are found at galaxy centers. Studying black holes helps in understanding gravity, space and time which offer clues about the fundamental laws that govern the universe. The black hole carries various facts and secrets which we are going to discover here. 5 incredible facts about Black Hole The closest Black Hole- Gaia BH1 Gaia BH1 is currently the nearest confirmed black hole to Earth which is located about 1,500 light-years away in the constellation named Ophiuchus. Unlike many black holes detected by their bright X-ray emissions from consuming nearby matter, Gaia BH1 is part of a binary system with a sun-like star but it doesn't actively pull in material, which makes it quiet and harder to spot. It was discovered using data from the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite which precisely measures star positions and motions. Scientists confirmed Gaia BH1's existence by detecting the shift in its companion star's motion caused by the black hole's gravitational pull. This discovery is important because it suggests many more quiet black holes that might be hiding nearby but are undetectable by traditional X-ray methods and offers new opportunities to study black holes in different environments. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Bolsas nos olhos? (Tente isso hoje à noite) Revista Saúde & Beleza Saiba Mais Undo The biggest known black hole - TON 618 TON 618 is the biggest known black hole which carries about 66 billion times the sun's mass. TON 618 is a supermassive black hole found within a distant quasar which is located billions of light-years from Earth. It's one of the most massive black holes ever discovered with a mass about 66 billion times that of our Sun. TON 618 was detected by observing the intense light emitted from the quasar which is a highly energetic region around the black hole where gas and dust fall in and heat up, producing powerful radiation. The quasar's brightness allowed scientists to estimate the black hole's mass through measurements of the gas motion near its event horizon. Studying TON 618 helps in understanding how such enormous black holes form and grow over cosmic time and sheds light on the early universe's conditions as quasars like TON 618 were more common billions of years ago. The Milky Way's central black hole - Sagittarius A* Sagittarius A* is a supermassive black hole situated about 26,000 light-years from Earth which is present right at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. It has a mass of approximately 4 million times that of the Sun. Despite its huge mass, Sagittarius A* is relatively quiet compared to the active black holes found in other galaxies which mean it doesn't currently consume large amounts of matter. Scientists have studied Sagittarius A* by tracking the orbits of stars moving around it, which helped confirm its presence and estimate its mass. This black hole plays a crucial role in the dynamics and evolution of our galaxy's core. Sagittarius A* is a key target for future imaging efforts to better understand these mysterious cosmic giants. Black holes are found in abundance across our galaxy Scientists believe that the Milky Way galaxy contains millions of black holes. These black holes form from the remains of massive stars that have ended their life cycles in supernova explosions. While only a few dozen black holes have been directly observed, many more are thought to exist but remain hidden because they don't emit light or X-rays. Most of these black holes are stellar black holes which are much smaller than supermassive ones like Sagittarius A* at the galaxy's center. They quietly roam space, sometimes in binary systems with other stars, occasionally pulling in material that can reveal their presence. Ongoing research and new methods like tracking the movements of stars or detecting gravitational waves are helping astronomers to uncover more of these hidden black holes, which play an important role in the galaxy's evolution. Black holes' cores can be nearly as cold as 'absolute zero' Black holes are often thought of as incredibly hot because of the energy and radiation around them, but at their very center, the temperature can be extremely low, approaching absolute zero (–273.15°C or –459.67°F). Absolute zero is the coldest possible temperature, where atomic motion nearly coldness arises because the singularity is a point of infinite density and gravity where the laws of physics as we know them break down. The intense gravitational pull traps everything but no heat or light escapes from within the event horizon. Interestingly, while the core is nearly frozen in temperature, the area just outside the event horizon can emit a faint glow called Hawking radiation which is caused by quantum effects near the black hole's the temperature inside black holes helps to explore how gravity and quantum mechanics interact under extreme conditions. How black holes are formed Black holes form when massive stars reach the end of their life cycle. During a star's life, it burns fuel through nuclear fusion, creating outward pressure that balances the inward pull of gravity. When the star runs out of fuel, this balance is lost and gravity causes the star to collapse. For very massive stars that are typically more than 20 times the mass of the Sun, this collapse is so intense that the core compresses into a single point called a singularity which is surrounded by an event horizon, forming a black hole. The outer layers of the star may explode in a supernova, scattering elements into space. In addition to stellar black holes, there are supermassive black holes that form over millions of years, possibly from the merging of smaller black holes or the collapse of massive gas clouds at the centers of galaxies. What happens inside a black hole Inside a black hole lies a region called the singularity where gravity is so intense that it crushes matter into an infinitely small and dense point. The laws of physics like general relativity and quantum mechanics, break down at this singularity which makes it one of the biggest mysteries in science. Surrounding the singularity is the event horizon, the boundary beyond which nothing, not even light can escape. Once something crosses this boundary, it is inevitably pulled toward the singularity. Inside the event horizon, space and time behave in strange ways. Time appears to slow down dramatically relative to an outside observer and the usual rules of cause and effect can become distorted. Because no information can escape from inside the event horizon, scientists cannot observe what truly happens inside a black hole directly. Instead, they use theoretical physics and indirect observations to understand these mysterious objects. Visual nature of black holes Black holes themselves are invisible because their gravity is so strong that not even light can escape which makes them appear completely black against the backdrop of space. However, we can see their presence indirectly. Around a black hole is often a glowing accretion disk which is a swirling ring of gas, dust and other matter that heats up and emits bright radiation as it spirals in. This disk can be incredibly luminous, outshining entire galaxies. Additionally, black holes can bend and distort light around them due to their intense gravity, creating a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. This warping of light can cause strange visual effects, like rings . In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope captured the first-ever image of a black hole's shadow, showing a dark center surrounded by a bright ring of glowing matter, offering a glimpse into what black holes "look like" from a distance. Also read: Copper-legged blue frog from poison dart family discovered in the Amazon rainforest
Scottish Sun
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Stunning photos of Milky Way dazzle in sensational space snap contest and wow judges
See some of the sensational photos that have wowed judges at this year's annual competition OUT OF THIS WORLD OUT OF THIS WORLD Stunning photos of Milky Way dazzle in sensational space snap contest and wow judges Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THERE'S some real stars quality in the nightscapes nominated for the annual Milky Way Photographer of the Year. Photos taken from space, Chile and the US are all in the running for the out-of-this-world picture prize. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 Taken from an ice hut on Austria's Dobratsch mountain with a Milky Way backdrop Credit: UroA� Fink/Milky Way Photographer of the Year/CMG 7 The Perseid Meteor Shower from the Eastern Sierra Nevada Credit: Mike Abramyan/Milky Way Photographer of the Year/CMG 7 A breath taking panorama of the Milky Way captured over Chile's remote Atacama Cactus Valley, famed for its dense cluster of towering cacti Credit: Pablo Ruiz/Milky Way Photographer of the Year/CMG Travel blog Capture The Atlas revealed the sensational photos that have wowed judges at this year's eighth annual competition. Photographer Uroš Fink, who took a snap from an Austrian ice hut, said: 'Undoubtedly my wildest location this winter – Austria's Dobratsch mountain! 'The sky was magnificent, with Jupiter and Mars shining brightly. "In the foreground is the cabin, where I spent three freezing hours waiting for the perfect shot of the Milky Way's core. READ MORE WORLD NEWS STORM COMING British missiles could soon be used by Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia "It turned out exactly as I envisioned—a true winter fairytale.' 7 The heavens from Socotra, Yemen Credit: Benjamin Barakat/Milky Way Photographer of the Year/CMG 7 Guatemala's Volcan de Fuego against the Milky Way's backdrop Credit: Sergio Montúfar/Milky Way Photographer of the Year/CMG 7 Truly out of this world - the Milky Way from the International Space Station Credit: Don Pettit/Milky Way Photographer of the Year/CMG 7 Capturing the Milky Way core from Otago, New Zealand Credit: Kavan Chay/Milky Way Photographer of the Year/CMG WHAT IS THE MILKY WAY The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. It is a barred spiral galaxy, meaning it has a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars, and spiral arms that extend outward. Here are some key features: Galactic Centre : A densely packed area of stars and other matter, believed to contain a supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A*. : A densely packed area of stars and other matter, believed to contain a supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A*. Bulge : Surrounding the galactic centre, the bulge is a roughly spherical region filled with older stars. : Surrounding the galactic centre, the bulge is a roughly spherical region filled with older stars. Disk : This flat, rotating disk contains most of the galaxy's stars, gas, and dust, and includes the spiral arms. : This flat, rotating disk contains most of the galaxy's stars, gas, and dust, and includes the spiral arms. Halo : An extended, roughly spherical region surrounding the disk, containing older stars and globular clusters. : An extended, roughly spherical region surrounding the disk, containing older stars and globular clusters. Spiral Arms: These are regions of higher density that contain a lot of young stars, gas, and dust. Our galaxy is about 100,000 light-years in diameter and contains between 100 billion and 400 billion stars. The Sun is located roughly 27,000 light-years from the galactic center, in one of the spiral arms known as the Orion Arm or Orion Spur. The Milky Way rotates, with stars in the disk orbiting the galactic centre. The speed of rotation varies with distance from the centre. The Milky Way is part of a group of galaxies known as the Local Group, which also includes the Andromeda Galaxy, the Triangulum Galaxy, and about 54 other smaller galaxies. From Earth, the Milky Way appears as a milky band of light stretching across the sky, which is the combined light of billions of distant stars that are too faint to be seen individually.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Black holes: Facts about the darkest objects in the universe
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Quick facts about black holes What they are: Places in space where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape How they form: When a massive star collapses in on itself Why they're black: Their gravitational pull is so extreme that even light can't escape Black holes are places where gravity is so powerful that nothing — not even light — can escape. Rather than being empty, black holes are chock full of matter that gets squeezed into a teensy space. The idea of black holes was first proposed in 1916, but at the time, physicists didn't think they actually existed. Today, we know that black holes are all around the universe, from far-away galaxies to the center of our own Milky Way. Read on to discover everything you need to know about how black holes form, what it's like inside of a black hole and what would happen if you fell in one. The closest black hole, Gaia BH1, is about 1,500 light-years away. The biggest known black hole is TON 618. It's 66 billion times more massive than the sun. A supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* lies at the center of the Milky Way. The Milky Way may contain millions of black holes. Black holes are freezing cold. At their center, they can reach temperatures near absolute zero. Black holes can form when a huge star dies. This happens because stars produce light and heat through a process called nuclear fusion. In this process, two small atoms fuse together to form a heavier atom, which releases energy. Those heavier atoms then fuse to form even heavier atoms, and so on to keep the star churning out light and heat. When very big stars near the end of their lives, they fuse heavier and heavier atoms in their centers. Eventually, they start forming iron atoms. But fusing iron takes more energy than the reaction produces, so the star starts to collapse in on itself, forming a black hole. Supermassive black holes are a special type of black hole that are millions of times bigger than our sun. Supermassive black holes form over hundreds of millions of years by both feeding on material around them and merging with other black holes. There may be other black holes that formed right after the universe began. If they exist, they formed because soon after the Big Bang, there were pockets of space with so much matter squished in them that they collapsed and formed black holes. But scientists haven't yet found one of these "primordial" black holes yet. Black holes may look like empty space, but they're the opposite. Inside a black hole, you would find loads and loads of material squished down to an infinitely small point. This tiny yet extremely dense point is called a singularity. Physicists don't know what happens at the singularity. It's such an extreme environment that all of our current knowledge of physics breaks down, making them technically impossible. It may be that we just don't fully understand them yet. Surrounding that singularity is the event horizon, the invisible boundary that marks the entrance to the black hole. Once anything crosses the event horizon, it can never, ever leave. In order to escape, one would have to travel faster than the speed of light, which is also impossible. Black holes are black because their gravitational pulls are so strong that even light can't escape them. Without any light coming from their centers, they look completely dark. But astronomers can still "see" black holes through other methods. One way to detect black holes is through the quasars they produce. Quasars are very hot, bright objects that happen when black holes pull in gas and dust. The ring of dust and gas around the black hole glows brightly, making it easy for astronomers to spot them. Some quasars shine brighter than entire galaxies, and are visible billions of light-years across the universe. Another way to "see" black holes is when they merge. When two black holes collide, they send out ripples in space-time, kind of like waves on the ocean. These are known as gravitational waves. These waves are incredibly weak, but sensitive instruments on Earth can detect them. To date, astronomers have identified at least 50 black hole merger events. The first true "image" of a black hole ever created came out in 2019, when astronomers used the Event Horizon telescope to snap an image of a lit-up disk of material swirling around a black hole called M87*. Weighing 3 billion times that of the sun and sitting in a galaxy over 50 million light-years away, M87* looked like a distorted orange donut. Since it's impossible to take a picture of the black hole itself (because no light can escape), what the astronomers instead saw was its "shadow," the hole in the glowing material surrounding it. In 2022, the same telescope took an image of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Physicist Karl Schwarzschild accidentally discovered black holes in 1916, when he was figuring out a particular solution to Einstein's general theory of relativity. But that solution contained a strange feature: the theory behaved strangely at a specific size, known today as the Schwarzschild radius. It was later realized why this number was so special. If you compressed the mass of an object into a space smaller than the Schwarzschild radius, its gravitational pull would overwhelm every known force and nothing could escape. Early physicists assumed that other physical laws made this impossible. But in the late 1930s, it became clear that nature could indeed allow black holes to exist when Indian physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar found that above a certain density, no force can overwhelm gravity. However, black holes can only form under the most extreme conditions. If you fall into a black hole, death is guaranteed. As you approach a black hole, the gravitational forces are so strong that you would be stretched head-to-toe into a long, thin strand of particles before even reaching the event horizon, a terrible fate called "spaghettification." Average size black holes would spaghettify you so fast your brain would rip apart into separate atoms instantly and you wouldn't have time to notice anything. But bigger black holes would take longer to spaghettify you. In that instance, you'd start going faster, approaching the speed of light. As that happened, time would slow down more and more. This would create a very weird effect, where when you looked into the black hole (if you were still alive), you'd see everything that happened in the past near that spot falling into it. If you looked behind you, you'd see everything that would happen in the future. Image 1 of 4 Sagittarius A* is a supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way. Scientists believe most large galaxies have a supermassive black hole at their center. Image 2 of 4 Quasars are powerful bursts of energy released by black holes. Scientists can look for quasars to "see" black holes. Image 3 of 4 Gaia BH1 is the closest black hole to Earth. In this illustration, it's shown with the sun-like star that it orbits. Image 4 of 4 If you fell into a black hole, your body would be stretched head-to-toe by the powerful gravity — a fate called "spaghettification". 9 ideas about black holes that will blow your mind How many black holes are there in the universe? Could a black hole devour the universe?
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A dozen black holes may be 'wandering' through our galaxy — and they're the rarest type in the universe
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Milky Way has millions of small black holes and one giant supermassive black hole at its center. But does the galaxy have any medium-sized black holes? New research suggests the answer is yes: Perhaps a dozen may inhabit the Milky Way, but they are wandering freely through space and are fiendishly difficult to detect. For decades, researchers have wondered about the prevalence of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). Certainly, every galaxy is capable of producing an enormous number — roughly a handful every century — of small black holes with masses of up to 100 or so times that of the sun. And it appears that when galaxies like the Milky Way first arrived on the cosmic scene, they already had companion supermassive black holes in their hearts. Our own supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, has a mass of 4.5 million suns. But what about the IMBHs? Theoretically, they should have masses of 10,000 to 100,000 solar masses. Finding IMBHs — or disproving their existence — has enormous implications for our understanding of black hole growth and evolution. But so far, there have been only faint, sketchy hints of IMBHs residing in dwarf galaxies, and no direct evidence that they live in a galaxy like the Milky Way. In April, a team of researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland explored whether our current simulations of the universe could conclusively predict if the Milky Way hosts a population of IMBHs. Their paper has been accepted for publication in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Related: Is our universe trapped inside a black hole? This James Webb Space Telescope discovery might blow your mind Galaxies do not grow up alone. Instead, they develop through the cannibalization of their neighbors, by incorporating their stars — and any black holes — within their volumes. The Milky Way has consumed over a dozen dwarf galaxies, and probably many more, in its long history. Presumably, some of those dwarf galaxies held IMBHs. But the common assumption was that large black holes tend to slink down the centers of their host galaxies, where they go on to merge with the central supermassive black hole. RELATED STORIES —Physicists create 'black hole bomb' for first time on Earth, validating decades-old theory —James Webb Space Telescope finds a wild black hole growth spurt in galaxies at 'cosmic noon' —Has the James Webb Space Telescope discovered a 'missing' supermassive black hole? (video) Through their models, the researchers saw a different story unfold. They used a simulation of the evolution of a Milky Way-like galaxy and found that it can contain somewhere between five and 18 "wandering" IMBHs, which are not located near the central core but are left to roam within the disk of the galaxy. The exact number of IMBHs depends on whether they are born near the core of a soon-to-be-consumed dwarf galaxy or in its outskirts. Although the researchers were heartened to find that the Milky Way should host a population of IMBHs, they urged caution in interpreting their results. They could not conclusively state what masses these black holes should have or where they would ultimately reside. So, while the new research strongly hints that IMBHs are out there, we do not yet know where to look.
Business Mayor
22-05-2025
- Science
- Business Mayor
A dozen black holes may be 'wandering' through our galaxy — and they're the rarest type in the universe
The Milky Way has millions of small black holes and one giant supermassive black hole at its center . But does the galaxy have any medium-sized black holes? New research suggests the answer is yes: Perhaps a dozen may inhabit the Milky Way, but they are wandering freely through space and are fiendishly difficult to detect. For decades, researchers have wondered about the prevalence of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). Certainly, every galaxy is capable of producing an enormous number — roughly a handful every century — of small black holes with masses of up to 100 or so times that of the sun. And it appears that when galaxies like the Milky Way first arrived on the cosmic scene, they already had companion supermassive black holes in their hearts. Our own supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, has a mass of 4.5 million suns. But what about the IMBHs? Theoretically, they should have masses of 10,000 to 100,000 solar masses. Finding IMBHs — or disproving their existence — has enormous implications for our understanding of black hole growth and evolution. But so far, there have been only faint, sketchy hints of IMBHs residing in dwarf galaxies, and no direct evidence that they live in a galaxy like the Milky Way. In April, a team of researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland explored whether our current simulations of the universe could conclusively predict if the Milky Way hosts a population of IMBHs. Their paper has been accepted for publication in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Related: Is our universe trapped inside a black hole? This James Webb Space Telescope discovery might blow your mind Cannibal galaxies Galaxies do not grow up alone. Instead, they develop through the cannibalization of their neighbors, by incorporating their stars — and any black holes — within their volumes. The Milky Way has consumed over a dozen dwarf galaxies , and probably many more, in its long history. Presumably, some of those dwarf galaxies held IMBHs. But the common assumption was that large black holes tend to slink down the centers of their host galaxies, where they go on to merge with the central supermassive black hole. Through their models, the researchers saw a different story unfold. They used a simulation of the evolution of a Milky Way-like galaxy and found that it can contain somewhere between five and 18 'wandering' IMBHs, which are not located near the central core but are left to roam within the disk of the galaxy. The exact number of IMBHs depends on whether they are born near the core of a soon-to-be-consumed dwarf galaxy or in its outskirts. Get the world's most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. Although the researchers were heartened to find that the Milky Way should host a population of IMBHs, they urged caution in interpreting their results. They could not conclusively state what masses these black holes should have or where they would ultimately reside. So, while the new research strongly hints that IMBHs are out there, we do not yet know where to look.
