A supermassive black hole

The black hole of our Milky Way as seen in polarized light. Astronomers have for the first time been able to measure polarity, a hallmark of magnetic fields, so close to the rim of Sagittarius A*. The lines added to the image indicate the direction of polarization, which is related to the magnetic field around the shadow of the black hole. Credit: EHT Collaboration

Strong magnetic fields surround the Milky Way's central black hole

This collage shows a small selection of regions of the Milky Way captured as part of a map created from the most detailed infrared wavelength imaging of our galaxy. Here you can see, from left to right and from top to bottom: NGC 3576, NGC 6357, Messia 17, NGC 6188, Messia 22 and NGC 3603. All are clouds of gas and dust in which stars are formed, with the exception of Messia 22, which is a very dense group of ancient stars. Photo: European Southern Observatory ESO

The most detailed infrared map of the Milky Way has been published

The images were taken with ESO's Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope (VISTA) in Chile and its VIRCAM infrared camera
This figure shows a stage in the merger of two galaxies that creates a single galaxy with two supermassive black holes at the center and surrounded by disks of hot gas. The black holes orbit each other for hundreds of millions of years as they merge to form a single supermassive black hole that sends out powerful gravitational waves. Credit: NASA/CXC/A.Hobart

Gravitational waves hint that the universe still has secrets

New research sheds light on the origin of low-frequency ripples in space-time
A star cluster forms in a giant molecular cloud as reproduced by the simulation in the model. The picture is based on the model. The blue dots represent individual stars. Dark and light colors indicate the temperature of the gas (cold and hot). Visualization by Takaki Takeda (VASA ENTERTAINMENT INC.)

"Medium and powerful: medium-mass black holes can survive in globular clusters"

First-ever model simulations of individual stars in a star cluster in the process of formation suggest possible mechanisms for the formation of intermediate-mass black holes
Scientists have discovered a large black hole that "hiccups", and emits gas fluxes. Analysis revealed that a small black hole repeatedly punctures the gas disk of the large black hole, causing the perturbations to be released. Strong magnetic fields, north and south of the black hole, shown by the orange cone, shoot the flux up and out of the disk. Each time the small black hole punctures the disk, it emits another star, in a regular periodic pattern. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT

Black hole "hiccuping" - astronomers are surprised by periodic eruptions in a distant galaxy

In a distant galaxy, the supermassive black hole's intermittent gas fluxes led to the discovery of a smaller black hole in its orbit
A multi-wavelength view of the surroundings of the supermassive black hole SgrA* (yellow X). In the red of the stars, in the blue of the dust. Many of the young stars are hidden by the dust or absorbed by the bright stars. Credit: Florian Peissker / University of Cologne

Stellar surprise: A fountain of youth at the center of our galaxy 'should be impossible'.

Researchers have discovered that the star cluster IRS13 near the supermassive black hole SagittariusA* at the center of our galaxy is much younger than predicted