How do black holes ‘leak’ energy? Scientists have a new spin on the answer

An illustration of the region surrounding a feeding supermassive black hole. What could possibly hide such a ravenous cosmic titan?

Black holes may leak more energy to their surroundings than previously suspected — and the faster these voids spin, the more efficient this energy extraction seems to be. With this in mind, a team of scientists has discovered how the disks of gas and dust that swirl around black holes can become the powerful engines … Read more

How big can ‘ultramassive’ black holes get? Scientists may have the answer

Scientists believe that at the heart of all large galaxies lurk supermassive black holes, cosmic titans with masses equivalent to that of millions or even billions of suns. Yet some black holes exceed even these monstrous masses to become “ultramassive black holes.” The most massive black hole that we are currently aware of is Phoenix … Read more