Black holes news, articles and features | New Ů��С��Ƶ

We’ve found the best example yet of an enormous wandering black hole

Leah Crane — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Astronomers have caught a supermassive black hole straying far from the centre of its galaxy using light from a star being ripped apart

We still don’t know how black holes get so big | Becky Smethurst

Emily Bates — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:00:00 +0000

In the centre of our galaxy sits a monster 4.3 million times the mass of the sun. But Sagittarius A* is tiny compared with other black holes in the universe, with some reaching up to 40 billion times the mass of the sun. They are the point where our laws of physics break, and how these giants get so big has puzzled scientists for decades.

Becky Smethurst is an astrophysicst at the University of Oxford and her work looks at how these behemoths affect the galaxy around them. New Ů��С��Ƶ‘s digital features editor, Jacklin Kwan, sat down with her to discuss what black holes are, how the supermassive ones get so big and Smethurst’s amazing career.

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Why quantum physics says there’s a multiverse

This physicist is hunting for the biggest black hole in the universe

Matt von Hippel — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 15:00:06 +0000

Astronomers have recently started looking for black holes bigger than galaxies. Brian Lacki explains how these “stupendously large black holes” might be used by alien civilisations, and what makes them such an intriguing possibility

Hidden black hole could explain mystery at the heart of our galaxy

Leah Crane — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 10:00:33 +0000

The area surrounding our galaxy’s central supermassive black hole contains three strangely different populations of stars – but one hidden black hole could explain all of them

We may have finally solved cosmology’s chicken-or-the-egg problem

Leah Crane — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 08:00:57 +0000

Galaxies and their supermassive black holes evolve together, but which came first is an ongoing question. Now we may finally have an answer, says columnist Leah Crane

Millions of planets might form around supermassive black holes

Jonathan O’Callaghan — Thu, 28 May 2026 07:00:41 +0000

Massive amounts of dust swirl around active nuclei at the centres of galaxies, and these discs could give rise to vast numbers of rocky planets, some even the size of stars

The hidden pockets of the universe where the future can cause the past

Leah Crane — Mon, 18 May 2026 08:00:40 +0000

Inside some very special black holes, there may be a boundary called a Cauchy horizon. Columnist Leah Crane explores the place beyond which physics breaks and anything is possible

The invisibility cloak inventor now has better tricks up his sleeve

Jacklin Kwan — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 15:00:26 +0000

John Pendry is known for creating an invisibility cloak. Twenty years on, he has used the same principles to fashion an even more powerful kind of metamaterial that can teach us about the wild frontiers of physics

Mystery ‘whippet’ space explosion is the brightest of its kind

Alex Wilkins — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 14:00:27 +0000

A rapidly brightening burst of light called AT 2024wpp, or "the Whippet", is baffling astronomers. One explanation is that it is the result of an exotic star falling into a black hole

A bizarre type of black hole could solve three cosmic mysteries in one

Leah Crane — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 16:00:27 +0000

Black holes that turn matter into energy could explain dark energy and answer two other cosmic questions. Now, the challenge is to find them