Sneaky black hole discovery explains star death, black hole formation, and gravitational waves
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 evolution of
