Black holes at the centers of galaxies

This image shows the region of the sky where the record-breaking quasar, J0529-4351, is located. Using the European Southern Observatory's Giant Telescope (VLT) in Chile, this quasar was found to be the most luminous object known in the universe so far. This image was created from images that are part of the Computerized Sky Survey 2, while the smaller image shows the location of the quasar in an image from the Dark Energy Survey. Credit: ESO/Computerized Sky Survey 2/Dark Energy Survey

The brightest object in the universe has been discovered - powered by a massive sun-swallowing black hole

The material being pulled toward this disk-shaped black hole emits so much energy that J0529-4351 is more than 500 trillion times brighter than the Sun
A jet emitted from a black hole at the center of a galaxy. Illustration: shutterstock

Why supermassive black holes keep growing at the centers of massive galaxies

Researchers from the Hebrew University and France discovered that below the critical size there are factors that prevent black holes from swallowing gas and growing, in galaxies with a mass of more than ten million suns, the attraction is large enough to attract
A black hole photographed in polarized light, revealing its magnetic fields. The Event Horizon Telescope Partnership (EHT)

The magnetic field of a black hole was photographed for the first time

The scientists observed the black hole in the center of the M87 galaxy which was photographed about three years ago by optical means, and now the huge magnetic field around it has been photographed which reveals what happens when matter approaches the speed of light and part of it is swallowed up by the black hole.
A star is torn apart by a black hole and emits jets of gas and radiation. Image: NASA/JPL

Stars engulfed by a black hole release energy long after the process begins

Dr. Assaf Haresh of the Hebrew University revealed a new and surprising phenomenon concerning the destruction of stars by black holes* so far no researcher has been able to prove that such flashes of radio radiation exist, for a long time
merging galaxies. Image: shutterstock

The black hole at the center of the Milky Way may have a friend

An illustration incorporating the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy - the first imaged by astronomers. Illustration: shutterstock

Why is photographing the black hole such a special event?

Imaging of the quasar J1342+0928, the active galactic halo that contains at its center a supermassive black hole, with a mass 800 million times that of our Sun, that is gobbling up a lot of material from a hot disk surrounding it. Source: Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science.

The most distant supermassive black hole to date has been discovered

Illustration of the galaxy and the giant black hole at its center. The black hole converts some of the matter it absorbs into energetic radiation (shaded in blue), while the galaxy continues to form new stars (purple areas). [Image credit: Michael Helfenbein/Yale University - M. Helfenbein / Yale University]

The black hole that was ahead of its time

A small black hole accreting mass. Compressed and cold gas (in green) moves towards the center of the star cluster (red X). The stars (in yellow) determine through their gravity the random and unstable trajectory of the black hole through the gas cloud (black line)

The diner at the edge of the universe

The galaxy NGC 5548. Photo: Hubble Space Telescope

Black hole eating disorders

A radio telescope image of galaxy 4C12.50 which is about 1.5 billion light years from Earth. The diagram shows the location details at the edge of a fast jet of particles, where the huge cloud of gas (in yellow-orange colors) is pushed by the jet. Figure: Morganti et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF)

Massive black holes limit the growth of galaxies

Andromeda's double core. Photo: Hubble Space Telescope. The large photograph of the Andromeda Galaxy is from the University of Alaska Anchorage, 2001

Hubble photographed the double nucleus of the Andromeda galaxy

Artist's rendering of stars moving into the central region of an elliptical galaxy hosting a supermassive black hole (Gemini Observatory/Aura. Image: Lynette Cook, for UC Berkeley)

Record-breaking black holes discovered in massive galaxies

The main image was taken with the Chandra X-ray Space Telescope (in blue) and Hubble Space Telescope optical images (in gold) of the spiral galaxy NGC 3393. Meanwhile, in the small box we see the central region of NGC 3393 in the Chandra image alone.

A galaxy with a pair of black holes at its center

ULAS J1120+0641 - the most distant quasar - its light reaches us as seen 770 million years after the Big Bang. Figure: ESO

The most distant quasar to date has been discovered

Supernova remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Photo: Chandra Space Telescope

Spectacular images: the universe in X-rays

A quasar acts as a gravitational lens. Illustration: Caltech

Astronomers have discovered an unusual cosmic lens

Marked with a white circle is the black hole at the center of the galaxy, and in red - the black hole kicked out of it. Illustration: Marian Heide and NASA

A black hole is kicked out of its galaxy

time travel. Illustration: shutterstock

Hawking: Time travel is possible but only into the future

A galaxy collision restarts a black hole

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Quasars - very far away and terrifyingly powerful

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Black holes regulate the growth of galaxies

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

The bass sounds of black holes

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Holes in theory - and in reality