COSMOS MAGAZINE

5 black hole stories to muse about

#1: Scientists take even crisper images of  black holes

Credit: EHT, D. Pesce, A. Chael.

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Side-by-side simulated images of M87* show the improvement in clarity and resolution from 230 GHz to 345 GHz. These improvements are allowing scientists to measure the size and shape of black holes more precisely. Credit: EHT, D. Pesce, A. Chael.

#2: Black hole “starving” galaxy to death

Pablo’s galaxy. Credit: Francesco D’Eugenio.

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#3: Black holes are getting caught in “traffic jams”

Artist illustration of thick ring of dust around supermassive black hole. Credit: NASA/SOFIA/Lynette Cook.

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#4: Largest  stellar black hole in the Milky Way discovered

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#5: First black hole triple system discovered

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An artist’s rendition of the black hole X-ray binary V404 Cygni. Credit: Jorge Lugo.

A black hole was discovered with two orbiting stars for the first time. One star orbits the black hole, V404 Cygni, every 6.5 days. The other orbits at a significantly greater distance and makes the same trip every 70,000 years.