Supermassive black hole

Every planet we know of orbits a star – but that might not be a universal rule. According to calculations by researchers at NAOJ, planets could technically form around supermassive black holes, creating vast planetary systems of thousands of worlds.

Astronomers have discovered a star known as S5-HVS1, travelling at an incredible 6 million km/h (3.7 million mph). That not only makes it the fastest known star, but it’s fast enough to fling it right out of the galaxy.

Wormholes are a sci-fi staple – but could they be science fact? Surprisingly they fit into current physics models, although no evidence has ever been found. Now, researchers have outlined how we might go about looking for wormholes in our own galaxy.

Astronomers have discovered a galaxy with strange clouds orbiting its supermassive black hole. Rather than all circling in the same direction, NGC 1068 has two rings that orbit in opposite directions – and that may answer a long-standing mystery.

Nowadays, the Milky Way is a pretty quiet galaxy – but just a few million years ago its central black hole sent off huge flares of radiation.

Astronomers have spotted an event that was thought to happen over millennia play out in a matter of months, as a usually-quiet galaxy suddenly fired up into an energetic quasar – and not just once, but in six different cases.

Given their name, black holes aren’t the kind of places you’d expect to see much light. But sometimes flashes of light are seen as the black holes snack on gas and dust. Earlier this year though the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy flared up in an unprecedented light show, and astronomers don’t really know why.

Back in April the world got its first direct glimpse of a black hole. Now the team behind this historic work is being awarded a Breakthrough Prize.

​Astronomers have released what could be the historic first images of a supermassive black hole’s event horizon. The enormous black hole is located within the large galaxy M87, and was imaged by a network of powerful observatories that formed a single planet-sized virtual telescope.

Active galactic nuclei are known by different names depending on the viewing angle. Now, for the first time astronomers have directly imaged the last piece of the puzzle that ties them all together – a dusty donut of material that surrounds a supermassive black hole.

A new NASA VR experience is letting viewers explore the chaotic heart of our galaxy from the perspective of the supermassive black hole lurking at its heart, Sagittarius A*. The video was created from a combination of supercomputer simulations and data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

It's hard to really understand the large-scale structure of the Milky Way. Now, astronomers have peered towards the center of the galaxy using the ESA's X-ray telescope XMM-Newton, and discovered two colossal "chimneys" pumping huge amounts of energy and gas out into intergalactic space.