Image provided by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which shows an illustration of what a star devoured by a black hole must be like, which…
The first quantum simulation of a wormhole opens a new door to understand the universe
The research manages to transmit information through this shortcut in space-time, which represents an advance in the understanding of quantum gravity. Quantum mechanics and the…
A mysterious bright flash is a jet of matter from a black hole pointing directly at Earth, astronomers say
Earlier this year astronomers were monitoring data from the Zwicky Transient Facility, an all-sky survey based at the Palomar Observatory in California, when they detected…
Astronomers observe a black hole engulfing and tearing apart a star
It is the most distant black hole of this type yet detected, whose plasma jet is visible because it points towards Earth. Several teams of…
A new study questions the Big Bang hypothesis
Cosmic inflation would not explain the ultra-rapid expansion of the early Universe: this could suggest that the cosmos was not born from an initial burst.…
Astrophysicists hunt for second-closest supermassive black hole to Earth
The Milky Way’s companion galaxy, Leo I, appears as a faint blob to the right of the bright star, Regulus. Credit: Scott Anttila Anttler. Decades…
Jupiter’s moon Io may have a hellish magma ocean below its surface
There are more than 200 moons in the solar system, but none like Io, the third largest moon in Jupiter’s eighty moons. Io is really…
Do black holes evaporate?
We all know that a hole is a kind of cosmic funnel: it swallows everything that comes close enough to be trapped in its gravitational…
Astrophysicists solve the mystery of a 40-year black hole jet with NASA’s IXPE
Blazars are some of the brightest objects in the cosmos. They are composed of a supermassive black hole feeding off material swirling around it in…
Why does the universe have a speed limit?
The universe seems to have a speed limit, a maximum speed that nothing can exceed. But why is this speed not infinite? And why is…