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Dense, swirling winds help supermassive black holes grow

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Dense, swirling winds help supermassive black holes grow

By studying nearby galaxy ESO320-G030, a team of international astronomers led by CIERA Postdoctoral Fellow Mark Gorski has discovered extremely dense and powerful rotating, magnetic winds help the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole grow. This image, created by CIERA Professor Aaron Geller, depicts this phenomenon. The process is strikingly similar to the birth of new

M. D. Gorski/Aaron M. Geller

  • Science

3rd annual Astronomy Night Out – “Tuning into the Cosmic Symphony: Pulsar Timing, the Gravitational Wave Background, and Beyond”

Event

3rd annual Astronomy Night Out – “Tuning into the Cosmic Symphony: Pulsar Timing, the Gravitational Wave Background, and Beyond”

On Friday, May 17, 2024, CIERA welcomed 170 in-person and 25 remote participants to its 3rd annual Astronomy Night Out, an evening dedicated to sharing astronomy with the community through a variety of formats. The keynote public lecture was presented by CIERA-Adler Postdoctoral Fellow Caitlin Witt and entitled, “Tuning into the Cosmic Symphony: Pulsar Timing, the Gravitational Wave

  • Education,
  • Event,
  • Outreach

Black holes eat faster than previously expected

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Black holes eat faster than previously expected

Simulated image of an accretion disk, the violent whirlpool of gas that encircles a supermassive black hole, broken apart into inner and outer rings. According to new high-resolution 3D simulations, spinning black holes twist up the surrounding space-time, ultimately ripping apart the violent whirlpool of gas (or accretion disk) that encircles and feeds them. This

A. Tchekhovskoy/Nick Kaaz/Northwestern University

  • Science

Black holes eat faster than previously expected

Image

Black holes eat faster than previously expected

Simulated image of an accretion disk, the violent whirlpool of gas that encircles a supermassive black hole, broken apart into inner and outer rings. According to new high-resolution 3D simulations, spinning black holes twist up the surrounding space-time, ultimately ripping apart the violent whirlpool of gas (or accretion disk) that encircles and feeds them. This

A. Tchekhovskoy/Nick Kaaz/Northwestern University

  • Science

Black holes eat faster than previously expected

Image

Black holes eat faster than previously expected

Simulated image of an accretion disk, the violent whirlpool of gas that encircles a supermassive black hole, broken apart into inner and outer rings. According to new high-resolution 3D simulations, spinning black holes twist up the surrounding space-time, ultimately ripping apart the violent whirlpool of gas (or accretion disk) that encircles and feeds them. This

A. Tchekhovskoy/Nick Kaaz/Northwestern University

  • Science

Black holes eat faster than previously expected

Image

Black holes eat faster than previously expected

Simulated image of an accretion disk, the violent whirlpool of gas that encircles a supermassive black hole, broken apart into inner and outer rings. According to new high-resolution 3D simulations, spinning black holes twist up the surrounding space-time, ultimately ripping apart the violent whirlpool of gas (or accretion disk) that encircles and feeds them. This

A. Tchekhovskoy/Nick Kaaz/Northwestern University

  • Science

Unprecedented gamma-ray burst explained by long-lived jet

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Unprecedented gamma-ray burst explained by long-lived jet

Last year, Northwestern University researchers uncovered new observational evidence that long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can result from the merger of a neutron star with another compact object (either another neutron star or black hole) — a finding that was previously believed to be impossible. Now, another Northwestern team offers a potential explanation for what generated

Ore Gottlieb/Danat Issa/Alexander Tchekhovskoy/CIERA/Northwestern

  • Science

Unveiling the origins of merging black holes in galaxies like our own

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Unveiling the origins of merging black holes in galaxies like our own

A 31.5 solar-mass black hole with an 8.38 solar-mass black hole companion viewed in front of its (computer generated) stellar nursery prior to merging. The distant band of the Milky Way can be seen toward the lower-left of the black hole pair. Light is warped nearby the black holes due to their strong gravity. The

Aaron M. Geller / Northwestern CIERA & NUIT-RCS; ESO / S. Brunier

  • Science,
  • Interdisciplinary,
  • Data Science & Computing

Aaron Geller and Alex Gurvich showcase Firefly on AAS Journal Author Series

Interview

Aaron Geller and Alex Gurvich showcase Firefly on AAS Journal Author Series

On May 27, 2023, CIERA Research Assistant Professor Aaron Geller and former NSF Graduate Fellow Alex Gurvich were featured on the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Journal Author Series to showcase Firefly, their new browser-based interactive tool for visualizing 3D particle data sets. Geller and Gurvich were interviewed by the AAS’s Frank Timmes. Read the full news story

  • Event

Medium-sized black holes eat stars like messy toddlers

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Medium-sized black holes eat stars like messy toddlers

New 3D computer simulations created by graduate student Fulya Kıroğlu show the eating habits of intermediate-mass black holes, which have yet to be discovered in observations. When a star approaches an intermediate-mass black hole, it initially gets caught in the black hole’s orbit. Every time the star makes a lap, the black hole takes a

Fulya Kiroglu/Northwestern/CIERA

  • Science

CIERA Interdisciplinary Colloquium: “Extremely Cool Detectors On a Fireball: Launching the Micro-X Sounding Rocket”

Event

CIERA Interdisciplinary Colloquium: “Extremely Cool Detectors On a Fireball: Launching the Micro-X Sounding Rocket”

Professor Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano presents an Interdisciplinary Colloquium on December 1, 2022, organized by Northwestern University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics.   Read the full CIERA News story here.

Star Collapses into NEW Black Hole

Interview

Star Collapses into NEW Black Hole

Affectionately referred to as the B.O.A.T. (“brightest of all time”), the powerful explosion occurred approximately 2.4 billion light-years away from Earth, in the direction of the constellation Sagitta. Astrophysicists, including Jillian Rastinejad, first detected the GRB, which was a few hundred seconds in duration, in gamma-ray light on Oct. 9. Read the full Northwestern News

National Science Foundation

Short gamma-ray bursts traced farther into distant universe

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Short gamma-ray bursts traced farther into distant universe

A Northwestern University-led team of astronomers has developed the most extensive inventory to date of the galaxies where short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) originate. Using several highly sensitive instruments and sophisticated galaxy modeling, the researchers, including Anya Nugent, pinpointed the galactic homes of 84 SGRBs and probed the characteristics of 69 of the identified host galaxies.

W.M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko

X-shaped Radio Galaxy Morphology: 3-dimensional movie of density

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X-shaped Radio Galaxy Morphology: 3-dimensional movie of density

When astronomers use radio telescopes to gaze into the night sky, they typically see elliptical-shaped galaxies, with twin jets blasting from either side of their central supermassive black hole. But every once in a while — less than 10% of the time — astronomers might spot something special and rare: An X-shaped radio galaxy, with

Aretaios Lalakos

Northwestern’s ‘Micro-X’ rocket to image supernova remnant (b roll)

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Northwestern’s ‘Micro-X’ rocket to image supernova remnant (b roll)

On Aug. 21, 2022, a NASA-funded Northwestern University team of astrophysicists launched its “Micro-X” rocket from White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico. The rocket spent 15 minutes in space — just enough time to snap a quick image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, a star in the Cassiopeia constellation that exploded approximately 11,000

Northwestern University

Northwestern’s ‘Micro-X’ rocket to image supernova remnant

Video

Northwestern’s ‘Micro-X’ rocket to image supernova remnant

On Aug. 21, 2022, a NASA-funded Northwestern University team of astrophysicists will launched its “Micro-X” rocket from White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico. The rocket spent 15 minutes in space — just enough time to snap a quick image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, a star in the Cassiopeia constellation that exploded approximately

Northwestern University

Micro-X rocket

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Micro-X rocket

On Aug. 21, the NASA-funded team launched its “Micro-X” rocket from White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico. The rocket spent 15 minutes in space — just enough time to snap a quick image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, a star in the Cassiopeia constellation that exploded approximately 11,000 light-years away from Earth. Then,

Northwestern University