Virgo Cluster, JWST has peered into its heart to understand why it appears to have two cores.
Sandeep K S
Dec 31, 2025
1 min read
The image illustrates the mystery of galaxy NGC 4486B's double nucleus, highlighting its off-center supermassive black hole. A gravitational "kick" of 340 km/s has displaced the black hole approximately 19.5 light-years from the true center, creating two bright regions separated by about 39 light-years. The black hole is expected to return to the center in approximately 30 million years, offering a unique opportunity to study post-merger black hole dynamics.
Astrophysicists have completed ASTRID, the largest cosmological hydrodynamic simulation ever run, tracing the universe from the cosmic dawn ($z=99$) down to the present day ($z=0$). By resolving 166 billion particles across 815 million light-years, ASTRID unveils how supermassive black holes co-evolve with galaxies and sculpt the cosmic web.
Scientists have uncovered the first robust evidence of a black hole and neutron star crashing together while orbiting in an oval path, challenging long-standing assumptions about cosmic pair formation.
Most neutron star-black hole pairs are expected to adopt circular orbits long before merging, their orbits slowly rounded out by the constant emission of gravitational waves over millions of years.
Far from the warmth of any star, moons orbiting rogue gas giants might harbor oceans of liquid water—and potentially complex life—for billions of years.
Liquid water is considered essential for life. Surprisingly, however, stable conditions that are conducive to life could exist far from any sun.
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