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VFTS 243 is a binary system of a large hot blue star and a black hole orbiting each other, as seen in this animation. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada, CC BY There is always something new and exciting going on in the field of black hole research. Albert Einstein first published his book explaining the general theory of relativity—which postulates black holes—in 1922. One hundred years later, astronomers captured the true image of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. In a recent paper, a team of astronomers describes another exciting new discovery: the first “dormant” black hole observed outside a galaxy. I am an astrophysicist who has studied black holes—the densest objects in the universe—for nearly two decades. An inactive black hole is a black hole that does not emit detectable light. Because of this, they are notoriously hard to find. This new discovery is exciting because it provides insight into the formation and ev...

Scientists from the University of Sheffield have collaborated on the production of a new telescope that will explore space for optical clues about violent cosmic events that create ripples, or waves, in the fabric of space itself. Observatories are currently only able to measure the effects of waves as they pass through our local swath of space-time, which makes it difficult to trace the origin of the source. The new telescope, named the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO), will fill this gap by searching for optical signals in the electromagnetic spectrum that might indicate the source of the wave. A new telescope, consisting of two identical arrays on opposite sides of the planet, one at La Palma in the Canary Islands and the other in Australia, has been produced to track the source of gravitational waves for the first time. The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO), a collaborative project led by the University of Warwick and with major contributions ...