astronomy

Imaging scientist Katie Bouman watching the first reconstructed image of a black hole emerge from the Event Horizon Telescope data. Image courtesy of Katie Bouman

Katie Bouman ‘hardly knew what a black hole was.’ Her algorithm helped us see one

By Vicky Stein

Scientists have obtained the first image of a black hole, using Event Horizon Telescope observations of the center of the galaxy M87. The image shows a bright ring formed as light bends in the intense gravity around a black hole that is 6.5 billion times more massive than the Sun. This long-sought image provides the strongest evidence to date for the existence of supermassive black holes and opens a new window onto the study of black holes, their event horizons, and gravity. Photo by Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

On Wednesday, the Event Horizon Telescope released the first-ever image of a black hole, a historic moment shared by scientists spread around the world.

By Nsikan Akpan

This is not an actual image of a black hole. This artist’s impression shows the surroundings of a supermassive black hole, typical of that found at the heart of many galaxies. The black hole itself is surrounded by a brilliant accretion disc of very hot, infalling material and, further out, a dusty torus. There are also often high-speed jets of material ejected at the black hole’s poles that can extend huge distances into space. Illustration and caption by European Southern Observatory

WATCH: What does a black hole look like? Scientists reveal the first picture

The Event Horizon Telescope is expected to release the first image of a black hole on Wednesday. In preparation for what might be a momentous day, here’s what you need to know.

By Nsikan Akpan

A heavy-metal planet orbiting a dead star may foretell our world’s end

The iron core of what was once a world has been found around a white dwarf star, shedding light on the final days of planetary systems — including our own.

By Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American

You may not even need a telescope this weekend to see this comet

Comet 46P/Wirtanen is expected to make an appearance Dec. 14 to 19 that may well be visible even to the naked eye. Photo by Suchart Kuathan/via Getty Images…

By Shannon Schmoll, The Conversation

Meet the scientist behind these stunning images of Jupiter

By Vicky Stein

Candice Hansen-Koharcheck, a planetary scientist, has been photographing celestial bodies for decades. But for the Juno mission, her collaborators are citizen scientists.

Hayabusa2, a Japanese spacecraft, arrives at Ryugu asteroid to retrieve minerals

By Jeremy Hsu, Scientific American

If all goes according to plan, two spacecraft will commence close encounters with two asteroids by the end of August, in order to retrieve organic materials dating back to the solar system’s birth.

The science behind the summer solstice

By Stephen Schneider, The Conversation

The summer solstice brings the longest day and shortest night of the year for 88 percent of Earth’s people.

5 things you never knew about the New Horizons mission to Pluto

By Rashmi Shivni

NASA New Horizons mission leader Alan Stern and astrobiologist David Grinspoon divulge the most intimate accounts of the decades of planning needed for the Pluto probe in the new book “Chasing New Horizons.”…

WATCH LIVE: TESS, NASA’s new exoplanet hunter, launches on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

By Jason Steffen, The Conversation

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will monitor more than 200,000 stars to discover thousands of exoplanets, ranging from Earth-sized to gas giants.