Tag: spiral

Black Holes and Dark Matter: Two Crazy Concepts Related?

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Every single massive galaxy has a black hole at its center, and bigger galaxies have bigger black holes.  It almost seems like a natural progression, with a bigger galaxy meaning more stars and material to feed a bigger black hole.  However, most of that material doesn’t make it to the central black hole. So how does a massive galaxy with hundreds of billions of stars spread out over hundreds of thousands of light years contribute to a black hole that at most is solar system sized? The answer might lie in another elusive and enigmatic gem of the universe: Dark...

Mystery of the Black Hole Cloud Solved

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If you’re in Astronomy circles you may have heard about a big cloud of Hydrogen heading toward the supermassive black hole in the centre of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*.  The lead up to the cloud approaching the black hole had astronomers buzzing this year, as it would be a direct opportunity for us to see the black hole ‘devour’ the cloud.  The black hole would show us some celestial fireworks and give us a huge opportunity to study their behaviour. Astronomers watched closely, and then the cloud passed right by…. We should have seen the cloud torn apart as matter spiralled...