There are all kinds of strange and wonderful objects in outer space - neutron stars, nebulae, galaxy clusters. One of the most fascinating is the black hole. Since German astronomer Karl Schwarzschild first predicted their existence in 1916, researchers have accumulated a wealth of knowledge about these elusive giants
As astronomy became more advanced, scientists began to learn more about the nature of black holes. Magnetic vortexes, radio wave jets, wormhole theory, record-breaking explosions. Over the past few years, stargazers have seen it all and started answering some of the questions that others have asked.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="59" >10 an unprecedented glimpse of the light behind a black hole</h1>
Black holes are giants in the universe that devour anything, and anything will pass through their orbits. Their gravitational pull is so great that nothing, not even light, can escape their gravitational pull. So, you would think that detecting light from behind a black hole is impossible. Of course, any emissions will be sucked in, right?
Albert Einstein disagreed. In 1915, the German scientist proposed that heavy objects like black holes should distort the structure of time and space, allowing light to travel around them. This was a key part of his general theory of relativity, an idea that revolutionized modern physics. Scientists have found this effect — known as gravitational lensing — but until recently, no one had been able to detect light from behind a black hole.
Then, in July 2021, astronomers at Stanford University cracked it. The team had been studying a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy when they noticed strange X-ray radiation so much that their fingers couldn't put it down. They're used to detecting signals from the front of black holes, but these new signals are different. These flashes then appear, and the light is less bright, like the echo that appears after the main burst. After extensive analysis, the researchers confirmed that these mysterious probes were actually pulses of light swirling around the edge of Zvich's black hole, reaffirming Einstein's breakthrough theory of relativity.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="95" >9 astronomers capture magnetic vortexes near the edge of a black hole</h1>
In 2019, astronomers released the first picture of the outermost part of a black hole, making history. A black hole itself is impossible to photograph. This groundbreaking photo captures the shadow of M87*, a supermassive black hole 55 million light-years away. Scientists edited the photo using data from a global network of detectors known as the World Horizon Telescope.
Two years later, in another unprecedented scientific feat, the team released a new photograph that offers a more important insight into the mysterious behavior of celestial behemoths. Finally, in March 2021, the researchers published another picture of M87*, but this time showing magnetic field lines swirling around its shadow.
A black hole like M87* is surrounded by a hot cosmic matter. The scientists analyzed the direction of light and vibrations from this region. It's no secret that black holes spew huge jets of material, but no one knows why. Scientists hope that magnetic vortexes can help explain this peculiar phenomenon.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="96" >8 Observatory detected record-breaking explosions</h1>
In 2016, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory began taking unusual readings from the depths of outer space. The Ophiuchus Cluster, 390 million light-years away, seems to contain a strange curve. At first, the scientists dismissed the idea of being caused by a black hole because the energy involved seemed too large to be true.
But as more data came in, the evidence began to pile up. Eventually, NASA realized that, in their words, they had discovered "the biggest explosion in the universe."
The galaxy swarms are some of the largest known structures in the universe. They are made up of thousands of galaxies, dark matter, and hot gas. In the center of the Ophiuchus cluster, there is a massive galaxy with a supermassive black hole inside. Scientists estimate that the massive explosion may have been caused by a massive space overeating. The blast is said to have released five times more energy than the last record holder, a major explosion in the MS 0735+74 cluster.
Simona Giacintucci, the study's lead author, compared the explosion to the 1980 eruption that set Mount St. Helens's "one key difference is that you can put 15 Milky Way galaxies into the crater row by row — an eruption that hits the cluster's hot gases." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="99" >7 is a deformed object lurking near a black hole in the Milky Way</h1>
In recent years, astronomers have noticed several strange variants dodging in the Milky Way. Researchers at UCLA found them hovering in a black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The furthest away from the black hole seems to be the most compact. But as they approach the event horizon, they begin to stretch.
These bizarre spheres of gas are called G-bodies. Scientists believe that the two stars formed when they were merged together by the enormous gravitational pull of the black hole.
Scientists have found six mutated G-bodies in the Milky Way, although there may be more variation elsewhere in the universe. Nobel laureate Andrea Ghez discovered the first G-object in 2005. But seven years later, researchers in Germany discovered the second one.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="97" >6 supermassive black holes can be disguised as wormholes</h1>
A wormhole is a cosmic tunnel through space that transports travelers anywhere in this universe and possibly into other places. More than a hundred years ago, Albert Einstein explained that wormholes could exist, but no one knew for sure whether they really existed.
For years, astronomers have been looking for evidence in the sky to confirm or deny the existence of wormholes. But in November 2020, researchers published a paper suggesting they might have stumbled upon them unknowingly. Mikhail Pietrovich makes the idea that certain black holes may actually be openings to wormholes.
Black holes and wormholes have more in common than you might think. They are all very dense, and they all have great appeal. The main difference is that after entering a black hole, nothing can leave the black hole, and any object that enters the wormhole can theoretically return. Piotrovich and his team hope that studying gamma-ray emissions could help confirm their fascinating theory.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="108" >5 Black hole mergers result in the light of one trillion stars</h1>
As we all know, black holes lurk in the pitch-black space, colliding with each other and merging with each other. Until recently, however, scientists thought the process was invisible, unfolding under the shroud of darkness.
But now, researchers believe that when black holes collide, blinding waves of light release a trillion times brighter than the sun. The gravitational wave observatory LIGO detected a dazzling flare back in 2019, which scientists believe was caused by the merger of two black holes in the presence of a third black hole. The surrounding gas and dust are like colliding floodlights that illuminate catastrophic events.
Matthew Graham, lead author of the study, explains: "This supermassive black hole had been going on for years before this more sudden flare occurred. "We conclude that the flare is most likely the result of a merger of black holes."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="100" >4 scientist radio photography</h1>
The Horizon Telescope (EHT) is an incredible feat of engineering, consisting of eight radio observatories scattered around the world. Collating their data creates a huge, high-precision telescope, equivalent to the size of an Earth.
In July 2021, the EHT project released a series of images of black holes spewing out radio waves. The black hole at the center of the Galaxy A Centauri is known for releasing large amounts of energy, far more than the black holes in the Milky Way. But it marks the first time scientists have captured a black hole in such a clear way as it ejects matter into the sky. EHT has enabled scientists to photograph these massive jets with ten times more precision and sixteen times the resolution than before.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="103" >3 Researchers found that the black hole swallowed a neutron star</h1>
Black holes and neutron stars are among the densest and most bizarre objects in the universe. When they bump into each other, all hell is scattered. These two behemoths collided together so forcefully that they produced large waves that spanned space-time.
Over the past few years, scientists have seen two black hole collisions and two neutron star collisions. But until recently, catching a black hole crashing into a neutron star was a more difficult challenge.
After waiting for a long time, like a bus, two cars appeared at the same time. In January 2020, astronomers received signals that two black holes—neutron stars—would merge in ten days. Scientists believe these two things happened about 1 billion years ago. Because space is so vast, the echoes of the universe didn't reach Earth until last year. In both cases, the black hole is so massive that it devours neutron stars.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="101" >2 Astronomers are confused about the "impossible" mass of a black hole</h1>
In the 2020s, scientists left the thoughts behind after detecting black hole collisions, which, according to theory, is impossible. At least one of the golfers had 85 times the mass of the sun, which scientists used to think was too big to make such a collision possible.
After the two collided and fused, they created a black hole nearly 150 times heavier than the Sun. This is heavier than any previously detected black hole. It is believed that this distant merger occurred at half the time the universe is currently half old. Theoretical astrophysicist Ilya Mandel described the discovery as an "astonishing accident."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" Data-track="105" >1 Is a black hole a source of near-infinite energy? </h1>
The British physicist Sir Roger Penrose was a key figure in astronomy. In 1969, he proposed the idea that future civilizations could use black holes to generate energy. Theoretically, objects placed near the black hole instead of inside the black hole should receive negative energy. Penrose suggested that the object should split into two halves, half sucked in by the black hole and the other half sucked away. The retreating party should now get energy from the black hole. This energy, if harnessed, can be used to power the entire planet.
As things stand, such feats go far beyond the scope of current technology. But is Penrose right? In 1971, physicist Yakov Zeldović devised an experiment that could be performed on Earth to test Penrose's distant theory. Unfortunately, due to technical limitations, Yakov Zeldovich's experiments were also impossible.
Fast forward to June 2020, and in more than half a century since Penrose first proposed the idea, researchers at the University of Glasgow were finally able to prove his theory. The team built a loudspeaker to reproduce the rotational effects of the black hole. Then, when the beams of sound were distorted and distorted, they listened, like objects in Penrose's original theory.