"Active, supermassive black holes were everywhere in the early
universe, we had seen the tip of the iceberg before
in our search for these objects. Now, we can see the iceberg itself."
Mark Dickinson of the National Optical Astronomy
Observatory in Tucson, Ariz.
Astronomers have long assumed there were far more so-called "active"
black holes than had been observed, but were unable to find any trace
of them.
An international team of astronomers have unexpectedly found
hundreds of... Read Full Story
Supermassive black holes can produce powerful winds that shape a galaxy and determine their own growth, confirms a group of scientists from Rochester Institute of Technology. The RIT team has, for the first time, observed the vertical launch of rotating winds from glowing disks of gas, known as accretion disks, surrounding supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies. Gas flowing into a supermassive black hole first accumulates in a rapidly spinning accretion disk, which forms the... Read Full Story
Astronomers are now understanding the connection between supermassive black holes and the galaxies they inhabit better and better. In fact, it now looks like the powerful winds that blow out of these monsters can have a significant effect on the galaxies they inhabit, helping determine their growth. In a recent study, published in the journal Nature, a group of scientists from the Rochester Institute of Technology report on their study of the rotating winds the rise up above the accretion... Read Full Story
Last year, CERN announced that it had developed a particle splitter which was capable of creating black holes. The announcement stated the black holes were teeny tiny (about the extent of my scientific expression) and disappeared incredibly quickly (quickly being nanoseconds). The ability to study black holes up close was the chance of a lifetime. However, it's causing quite a stir: Campaigners in the US are attempting to delay the start-up of the world's most powerful particle smasher... Read Full Story
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