Archived articles

Black holes

An illustration of how a supermassive blackhole would make stars in the first 50 million years of the universe. The foreground shows stars in the making, gas clouds getting crushed by the black hole’s powerful magnetism. The background shows fully formed stars. A spiral of dust and gas revolving like a storm around the black hole also is shown. Also, the black hole shoots out plasma and energy upwards from the center of this storm.
Astrophysics
Which came first: black holes or galaxies?
Published Feb 6, 2024
Black holes not only existed at the dawn of time, they birthed new stars and supercharged galaxy formation, a new analysis of James Webb Space Telescope data suggests
Image showing the gravitational lensing effects caused by no object in an observer’s line of sight, a black hole, and the topological soliton
Astrophysics
Could copycat black hole be a new type of star?
Published April 20, 2023
Though the mysterious object is a hypothetical mathematical construction, new simulations by Hopkins researchers suggest there could be other celestial bodies in space hiding from even the best telescopes on Earth
A colorful simulation of black holes colliding
Astrophysics
Simulations show aftermath of black hole collision
Published Feb 22, 2023
The work, led by Johns Hopkins researchers, shows how a remnant black hole sends gravitational waves like ripples in a pond
A Hubble image of the quasar and the same area viewed with the James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb image shows multiple galaxies coalescing, with each color representing a different velocity: Red is moving away from us. Blue is moving toward us.
Astronomy
Webb reveals unprecedented glimpse of merging galaxies
Published Oct 20, 2022
The findings by Johns Hopkins University and an international team offer an unprecedented opportunity to observe how billions of years ago galaxies coalesced into the modern universe
Spiral galaxy NGC 3147
Astronomy
Hubble finds black hole disk that shouldn't exist
Published July 15, 2019
The presence of a thin accretion disk in malnourished galaxy NGC 3147 defies current astronomical theories
Space science
'Monster at the heart of our galaxy'
Published Sept 13, 2017
UCLA astrophysicist Andrea Ghez will deliver lecture on supermassive black holes
Illustration features a ring of dark dust and a star swooping around the dust cloud with a circular, red-orange tail trailing behind it
Observing a one-star meal
Published Sept 16, 2016
Scientists find new ways to track stars eaten by black holes, promising to help paint a clearer picture of this cosmic phenomenon
Black hole illustration
Astrophysics
Can one cosmic mystery help solve another?
Published Aug 24, 2016
Astrophysicists from Johns Hopkins propose using mysterious fast radio bursts to help detect dark matter
Deep space
Did a gravitational wave detector find dark matter?
Published June 16, 2016
Johns Hopkins scientists offer hypothesis to solve long-standing mystery in physics
Black hole devours star
Published Nov 26, 2015
JHU scientist leads international team in observing black hole swallowing star, ejecting flare moving at nearly the speed of light