X-ray pulse detected near event horizon as black hole devours star
Pulse pattern suggests distant black hole must be spinning at least at 50 percent the speed of light.
Astronomers observe evolution of a black hole as it wolfs down stellar material
Halo of highly energized electrons around the black hole contracts dramatically during feeding frenzy.
Stamp of approval
MIT’s Mark Vogelsberger and the Illustris project are honored by Germany's postal service with an official stamp.
LIGO and Virgo announce four new gravitational-wave detections
The observatories are also releasing their first catalog of gravitational-wave events.
A passionate advocate for open data
Senior Radha Mastandrea analyzes data from CERN in search of more information about the universe’s fundamental particles.
3Q: Janet Conrad on the first detection of a neutrino’s cosmic source
The “ghostly particle” is confirmed to have originated from a blazar, nearly 4 billion light years from Earth.
Could gravitational waves reveal how fast our universe is expanding?
Signals from rare black hole-neutron star pairs could pinpoint rate at which universe is growing, researchers say.
Dense stellar clusters may foster black hole megamergers
Black holes in these environments could combine repeatedly to form objects bigger than anything a single star could produce.
Center for Theoretical Physics celebrates 50 years
Symposium explores how novel ideas and experiments are advancing many areas of theoretical physics in newly interconnected ways.
Scientists detect radio echoes of a black hole feeding on a star
Signals suggest black hole emits a jet of energy proportional to the stellar material it gobbles up.
Modeling the universe
MIT's Mark Vogelsberger and an international astrophysics team have created a new model pointing to black holes’ role in galaxy formation.
Scientists observe supermassive black hole in infant universe
Findings present a puzzle as to how such a huge object could have grown so quickly.
3Q: Scott Hughes on cosmic distances and the future of gravitational wave astronomy
Professor of physics describes our understanding of the expansion of the universe through “standard sirens.”
MIT physicist Rainer Weiss shares Nobel Prize in physics
LIGO inventor and professor emeritus of physics recognized “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.”
Gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger observed by LIGO and Virgo
Finding represents first joint detection of gravitational waves with both detectors.