Latest news with #blackholes
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- General
- Gizmodo
Scientists Are Creeping Closer to Colorized Black Hole Images
Black holes are infamous for being invisible. But thanks to a new technique from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team, we're about to start seeing them in color. Astronomers have figured out a way to observe the radio sky in multiple frequencies at once, allowing them to create full-color images of supermassive black holes. The breakthrough is built on a technique called frequency phase transfer, which lets scientists correct for atmospheric interference in real time across multiple radio bands. In plain English: They've basically figured out how to give radio telescopes a multi-color vision upgrade. Sara Issaoun, a researcher at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, led the team, whose research was recently published in The Astronomical Journal. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) stunned the world in 2019 with the first image of a black hole—M87*, followed in 2022 by Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at our galaxy's center. Now, scientists are planning a $300 million space-based successor mission, the Event Horizon Explorer, designed to sharpen those images tenfold and reveal the elusive photon rings that may confirm black hole spin and push the limits of general relativity. Meanwhile, some researchers have challenged aspects of the original Sgr A* image, proposing that its accretion disk may be more elongated than ring-like—an open question future observations may resolve. Similar to how our eyes take in visible light's various wavelengths and interpret them as a range of colors, radio telescopes capture slices of invisible radio light in specific frequency bands. Stitch enough of those slices together and you get something like a color image—just not in the visible spectrum. But until now, most radio telescopes could only observe one frequency band at a time. That's fine when astronomers' target is a distant galaxy that appears sedentary against the cosmos. But if scientists are trying to image a rapidly spinning black hole spewing relativistic jets, or wobbling from gravitational forces, the radio data can't be captured in a single image. The object simply moves so fast that multiple exposures can't be layered in a coherent way. Enter frequency phase transfer. As reported in Universe Today, the team was able to track atmospheric distortions in their observations at one wavelength and sharpen the image in a different wavelength. (Correcting for atmospheric distortion is a regular problem for Earth-based observatories, but new technologies are allowing telescopes to overcome this longstanding hurdle in ground-based astronomy). The team's new black hole imaging method is still experimental, but the proof-of-concept means we're on the cusp of getting sharper, truer images of the most extreme objects in the universe. Next-gen observatories like the EHT and Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) are already gearing up to use this method, bringing us one step closer to seeing a black hole in all its violent and vivid brilliance.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists use Stephen Hawking theory to slash universe's life expectancy
Scientists have found that the universe's decay rate is much faster than previously thought. A team of three scientists from Radboud University, Netherlands, calculated how long it would take for black holes, neutron stars, and other objects to "evaporate" via a process similar to Hawking radiation. Their research, which builds on previous work by the same team, shows that the last stellar remnants of the universe will take roughly 1078 years to perish. That is much shorter than the 101100 years scientists previously calculated. The team behind the new calculations used Hawking radiation as a basis for their research. In 1975, British theoretical physicist Professor Stephen Hawking theorized that some material escapes the event horizon of black holes. This phenomenon, explained via quantum mechanics, ultimately meant that black holes slowly decay into particles and radiation. This contradicted Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, which states that black holes do not decay. The new research findings, carried out by black hole expert Heino Falcke, quantum physicist Michael Wondrak, and mathematician Walter van Suijlekom, were published in a paper in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. The new research is a follow-up to a 2023 paper by the same team. In that paper, they showed that some of the universe's most ancient objects, including black holes and neutron stars, can also evaporate via a process akin to Hawking radiation. After publishing that paper, the team researched how long this process could take. Based on their calculations, they believe the end of the universe is roughly 1078 years away. That is, if only Hawking-like radiation is taken into consideration. To reach that number, the team calculated how long it would take a white dwarf star, the most persistent celestial body in the universe, to decay via Hawking-like radiation. Previous studies have suggested white dwarfs could have a lifetime of 101100 years. In a press release, Lead author Heino Falcke said: "So the ultimate end of the universe comes much sooner than expected, but fortunately it still takes a very long time." Though Hawking's radiation theory specifically applies to Black Holes, the team from Radboud University believes the process applies to other objects with a gravitational field. Their calculations showed that the evaporation time of an object depends only on its density. Although it shows our universe may have a shorter lifetime than previously believed, the research highlights what a dizzyingly long time the universe could last – the 1078 in their calculations amounts to 1 and 78 zeroes. The team also performed a few extra tongue-in-cheek calculations. They found that the Moon and a human would take 1090 years to evaporate via Hawking-like radiation. However, the team believes their research could shed new light on the cosmos. Walter van Suijlekom noted: "By asking these kinds of questions and looking at extreme cases, we want to understand the theory better, and perhaps one day, we will unravel the mystery of Hawking radiation."
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Black hole dance illuminates hidden math of the universe
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Scientists have made the most accurate predictions yet of the elusive space-time disturbances caused when two black holes fly closely past each other. The new findings, published Wednesday (May 14) in the journal Nature, show that abstract mathematical concepts from theoretical physics have practical use in modeling space-time ripples, paving the way for more precise models to interpret observational data. Gravitational waves are distortions in the fabric of space-time caused by the motion of massive objects like black holes or neutron stars. First predicted in Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity in 1915, they were directly detected for the first time a century later, in 2015. Since then, these waves have become a powerful observational tool for astronomers probing some of the universe's most violent and enigmatic events. To make sense of the signals picked up by sensitive detectors like LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and Virgo, scientists need extremely accurate models of what those waves are expected to look like, similar in spirit to forecasting space weather. Until now, researchers have relied on powerful supercomputers to simulate black hole interactions that require refining black hole trajectories step by step, a process that is effective but slow and computationally expensive. Now, a team led by Mathias Driesse of Humboldt University in Berlin has taken a different approach. Instead of studying mergers, the researchers focused on "scattering events" — instances in which two black holes swirl close to each other under their mutual gravitational pull and then continue on separate paths without merging. These encounters generate strong gravitational wave signals as the black holes accelerate past one another. To model these events precisely, the team turned to quantum field theory, which is a branch of physics typically used to describe interactions between elementary particles. Starting with simple approximations and systematically layering complexity, the researchers calculated key outcomes of black hole flybys: how much they are deflected, how much energy is radiated as gravitational waves and how much the behemoths recoil after the interaction. Their work incorporated five levels of complexity, reaching what physicists call the fifth post-Minkowskian order — the highest level of precision ever achieved in modeling these interactions. Reaching this level "is unprecedented, and represents the most precise solution to Einstein's equations produced to date," Gustav Mogull, a particle physicist at Queen Mary University of London and a co-author of the study, told The team's reaction to achieving the landmark precision was "mostly just astonishment that we managed to get the job done," Mogull recalled. Related stories: — What is the theory of general relativity? Understanding Einstein's space-time revolution — What are gravitational waves? — What is string theory? While calculating the energy radiated as gravitational waves, researchers found that intricate six-dimensional shapes known as Calabi–Yau manifolds appeared in the equations. These abstract geometrical structures — often visualized as higher-dimensional analogues of donut-like surfaces — have long been a staple of string theory, a framework attempting to unify quantum mechanics with gravity. Until now, they were believed to be purely mathematical constructs, with no directly testable role tied to observable phenomena. In the new study, however, these shapes appeared in calculations describing the energy radiated as gravitational waves when two black holes cruised past one another. This marks the first time they've appeared in a context that could, in principle, be tested through real-world experiments. Mogull likens their emergence to switching from a magnifying glass to a microscope, revealing features and patterns previously undetectable. "The appearance of such structures sheds new light on the sorts of mathematical objects that nature is built from," he said. These findings are expected to significantly enhance future theoretical models that aim to predict gravitational wave signatures. Such improvements will be crucial as next-generation gravitational wave detectors — including the planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and the Einstein Telescope in Europe — come online in the years ahead. "The improvement in precision is necessary in order to keep up with the higher precision anticipated from these detectors," Mogull said.
Gizmodo
13-05-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
The Universe Will Fizzle Out Way Sooner Than Expected, Scientists Say
Around 13.8 billion years ago, a tiny but dense fireball gave birth to the vast cosmos that holds trillions of galaxies, including the Milky Way. But our universe is dying, and it's happening at a much faster rate than scientists previously estimated, according to new research. The last stellar remnants of the universe will cease to exist in 10 to the power of 78 years (that's a one with 78 zeros), according to a new estimate from a group of scientists at Radboud University in the Netherlands. That's still a long way off from when the universe powers down for good—but it's a far earlier fade-to-black moment than the previous 10 to the power of 1,100 years estimate. The new paper, published Monday in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, is a follow-up to a previous study by the same group of researchers. In their 2023 study, black hole expert Heino Falcke, quantum physicist Michael Wondrak, and mathematician Walter van Suijlekom suggested that other objects, like neutron stars, could evaporate in much the same way as black holes. The original theory, developed by Stephen Hawking in 1974, proposed that radiation escaping near a black hole's event horizon would gradually erode its mass over time. The phenomenon, known as Hawking radiation, remains one of the most surprising ideas about black holes to this day. Building on the theory of Hawking radiation, the researchers behind the new paper suggest that the process of erosion depends on the density of the object. They found that neutron stars and stellar black holes take roughly the same amount of time to decay, an estimated 10 to the power of 67 years. Although black holes have a stronger gravitational field that should cause them to evaporate faster, they also have no surface so they end up reabsorbing some of their own radiation, 'which inhibits the process,' Wondrak said in a statement. The researchers then calculated how long various celestial bodies would take to evaporate via Hawking-like radiation, leading them to the abbreviated cosmic expiration date. 'So the ultimate end of the universe comes much sooner than expected, but fortunately it still takes a very long time,' Falcke said. The study also estimates that it would take the Moon around 10 to the power of 90 years to evaporate based on Hawking radiation. 'By asking these kinds of questions and looking at extreme cases, we want to better understand the theory, and perhaps one day, we unravel the mystery of Hawking radiation,' van Suijlekom said.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Scientists reveal exact date universe will end: 'Sooner than we feared'
Scientists have discovered that the universe is decaying much faster than they thought, and have pinpointed exactly when it will perish. A team of researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands determined that all the stars in the universe will go dark in one quinvigintillion years. That's a one followed by 78 zeros. But this is a much shorter amount of time than the previous prediction of 10 to the power of 1,100 years, or a one followed by 1,100 zeros. The process they believe is driving the death of the universe is related to Hawking radiation, where black holes emit radiation as they gradually 'evaporate' into nothing. This was thought to be a phenomenon exclusive to black holes, but the researchers showed that things like neutron stars and white dwarfs can also evaporate similarly to black holes. Both neutron stars and white dwarfs are the final stage of a star's life cycle. Massive stars explode into supernovas and then collapse into neutron stars, whereas smaller stars like our sun devolve into white dwarfs. These 'dead' stars can persist for an extremely long time. But according to the researchers, they gradually dissipate and explode once they become too unstable. In other words, knowing how long it takes for a neutron star or a white dwarf to die helps scientists understand the maximum lifespan of the universe, because these will be the last stars to die out. Previous studies did not take Hawking radiation into account, and therefore overestimated the maximum lifespan of the universe, according to lead researcher Heino Falcke, professor of radio astronomy and astroparticle physics at Radboud University. Falcke and his colleagues sought to correct this by calculating how long it takes for neutron stars and white dwarfs to decay via a Hawking-radiation-like process, finding that it takes one quinvigintillion years. 'So the ultimate end of the universe comes much sooner than expected, but fortunately it still takes a very long time,' he said in a statement. In 1975, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking proposed that particles and radiation could escape from a black hole, which contradicted the widely-held belief that nothing escapes the gravitational pull of these extremely massive objects. But according to Hawking, two temporary particles can form at the edge of a black hole. Before they can merge, one particle is sucked back into the black hole and the other escapes. These escaped particles are Hawking radiation. As more and more of these particles escape over time, the black hole gradually decays. This also contradicts Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, which states that black holes can only grow. The team used their 2023 study, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, to lay the groundwork for the recent discovery. In the previous work, Falcke and his colleagues showed that all objects with a gravitational field should be able to evaporate via a similar process. What's more, their calculations suggested that the evaporation rate depends only on the object's density. From there, applying the concept of Hawking radiation to neutron stars and white dwarfs for their new study was relatively straightforward. Those findings have been accepted for publication by the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, but are currently housed on the pre-print server arXiv. Even though these new calculations cut an inconceivable number of years off the universe's lifespan, it doesn't change the fact that humans don't have to worry about the end of everything anytime soon. But they do offer a new look at Hawking's controversial theory. 'By asking these kinds of questions and looking at extreme cases, we want to better understand the theory, and perhaps one day, we will unravel the mystery of Hawking radiation,' said co-author Walter van Suijlekom, professor of mathematics at Radboud University.
