Black Holes

A hidden intermediate-mass black hole could account for the three distinct populations of stars orbiting Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way’s center. Researchers built a model showing how one tilted companion object can shape all three groups through gravitational effects. The work was detailed in a recent arXiv paper.

June 19, 2026 Reported by AI

New data from the XRISM mission indicate that winds from supermassive black holes can expel gas from giant galaxies and limit future star formation.

Astronomers have uncovered evidence that a black hole and neutron star merged while following an unusual oval-shaped orbit, challenging expectations of circular paths in such events. The discovery comes from a reanalysis of gravitational wave data from the event known as GW200105. This finding suggests the system formed in a dynamic stellar environment.

March 11, 2026 Reported by AI

Astronomers have detected a mysterious cosmic explosion known as AT 2024wpp, or the Whippet, which is the brightest fast blue optical transient observed to date. Researchers suggest it resulted from a massive Wolf-Rayet star being devoured by a black hole. The event, spotted at the end of 2024, offers new insights into rare stellar phenomena.