Black | Common News Update

Jun192018 by adminNo Comments

Study offers best evidence yet of an intermediate-mass black hole

June 18 (UPI) -- New data discovered by astronomers at the University of New Hampshire's Space Science Center offers the best evidence yet of the existence of intermediate-mass black holes, or IMBHs. Astronomers finally caught the elusive object devouring a star that drifted too close. Researchers imaged the consumption event using three different X-ray observatories, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, as well as the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton. "We feel very lucky to have spotted this object with a significant amount of high quality data, which helps pinpoint the mass of the black hole and understand the nature of this spectacular event," Dacheng Lin, a research assistant professor at the Space Science Center, said in a news release. "Earlier res...

May302018 by adminNo Comments

I felt like a superhero in black catsuit – Williams

Sports

French Open 2018Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 27 May-10 JuneCoverage: Daily live radio and text commentaries on BBC Radio 5 live, the BBC Sport website and app.Serena Williams said she felt like a "superhero" in the black catsuit she wore during the 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win over Kristyna Pliskova at the French Open.The temperature hit 25C in Paris but it did not seem to affect the 23-time major winner in her first Grand Slam match since giving birth last September."I feel like a warrior wearing it, a queen from Wakanda [referring to the Black Panther movie] maybe," she said. "It was comfortable to wear."The 36-year-old added: "I'm always living in a fantasy world. I always wanted to be a superh...

May252018 by adminNo Comments

APEX offers up-close view of black hole's event horizon

Science

May 25 (UPI) -- Astronomers are trying to take a picture of the shadow of a black hole, and they're getting closer thanks to the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment radio telescope, also known as APEX. Five years ago, astronomers outfitted APEX with the equipment needed to be integrated into a global network of antennas known as Event Horizon Telescope. The addition of APEX allowed EHT to collect the most detailed observations yet of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. More specifically, the collective of telescopes was able to zoom in on the black hole's event horizon, the point of no return -- where the gravitational pull of the black hole becomes stronger than the speed of light and beyond, which no matter or particle can escape. The Event Hori...

Apr62018 by adminNo Comments

Dozen black holes found at galactic centre

Science

A dozen black holes may lie at the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way, researchers have said.A new analysis provides support for a decades-old prediction that "supermassive" black holes at the centres of galaxies are surrounded by many smaller ones.However, previous searches of the Milky Way's centre, where the nearest supermassive black hole is located, have found little evidence for this.Details appear in the journal Nature.Charles Hailey from Columbia University in New York and colleagues used archival data from Nasa's Chandra X-ray telescope to come to their conclusions.They report the discovery of a dozen inactive and low-mass "binary systems", in which a star orbits an unseen companion - the black hole.The supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, known as Sagittarius ...

Apr52018 by adminNo Comments

Milky Way center may host 13 black holes

Science

April 4 (UPI) -- Models predict the supermassive black holes found at the center of most galaxies will be surrounded by a sizable population of smaller black holes. But, until now, astronomers haven't been able to find extra black holes at the center of the Milky Way.A new study, however, published this week in the journal Nature, suggests at least 13 black holes are positioned near Sagittarius A, the Milky Way's supermassive black hole.In fact, the research suggests thousands of black holes could be sprinkled throughout the inner regions of the galaxy."There are only about five dozen known black holes in the entire galaxy -- 100,000 light years wide -- and there are supposed to be 10,000 to 20,000 of these things in a region just six light years wide that no one has been able to find," Ch...