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.
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.
Look up on a clear night and you'll see the streaks of our modern satellite networks. What you don't see is the growing fallout for the atmosphere that keeps us alive.
A wave of satellite launches and reentries is changing the chemistry and physics of the middle and upper atmosphere. Studies warn of ozone depletion, stratospheric heating, and new metal aerosols from burning spacecraft.
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