Before scientists were even sure black holes existed, an Indian astrophysicist did the math behind Einstein's predictions of what would happen if two black holes collided.
The black hole is roughly 1,000 light-years from Earth — and more than 2,000 light-years closer than the next one known. What's more, scientists say, it may be just "the tip of an exciting iceberg."
In the 1970s, Rich Isaacson was presented with what seemed like a crazy idea: using lasers to detect gravitational waves. It became the biggest project the National Science Foundation had ever funded.
Every image you've ever seen of a black hole has been a simulation. Until now. "We have seen what we thought was unseeable," said Event Horizon Telescope Director Shep Doeleman.
On April 1, astronomers will start two huge machines and continue hunting for ripples in space-time. One scientist gets his mom to translate news of each discovery into her native language, Blackfoot.
The physicist's posthumous book highlights his belief in the rationality of nature and on our ability to uncover its secrets — and a faith in science's ability to solve humanity's biggest problems.
The supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our galaxy appears to have a lot of company, according to a new study that suggests the monster is surrounded by about 10,000 other black holes.
Commentator Adam Frank talks with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb about exo-civilizations, techno-signatures, and the search for alien life — living or long-gone.
When Einstein, born 139 years ago on Wednesday, came onto the science scene, physics was in crisis. New ideas were badly needed — it was the perfect moment for a trailblazer, says Marcelo Gleiser.
Commentator Adam Frank interviews physicist Clifford Johnson, who has taken a new approach to the exploration of questions about the nature of the universe — the graphic novel.
The cosmic sinkhole is at the center of a galaxy 800 million light-years from Earth and supports the theory that such objects can switch their power output on and off in relatively short time-scales.
In an astonishing discovery, astronomers used gravitational waves to locate two neutron stars smashing together. The collision created 200 Earth masses of pure gold, along with other elements.
Three scientists won the prize after a 25-year-long search of the cosmos for gravitational waves — the waving of space — the one test missing for Einstein, says astrophysicist Marcelo Gleiser.
Black holes aren't all doom and gloom. Some of these incredibly dense matter-suckers fling powerful jets of light and charged particles — the space version of a fireworks show.
An L-shaped machine in Louisiana is hunting for some of the most powerful waves in existence: gravitational waves. This wave detector acts like a giant tape measure to capture bends in space and time.
For the second time in recent months, scientists say they have picked up distortions in space and time. The find suggests smaller-sized black holes may be more numerous than many scientists thought.
A black hole with about 17 billion times the mass of our sun has turned up in another remote galaxy. Astronomers now think these mass-eating monsters may not be so rare after all.
Behind the headlines and news conferences announcing the discovery were decades of hard work, hundreds of scientists and more than a billion dollars in taxpayer funds.
A U.S.-led team says it has seen waves in space-time from two black holes merging together. It is the first time humanity has directly detected such waves.
