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ScienceQuiet 11d · day 15

Astronomers observe wandering black hole feeding as it moves through galaxy

First direct evidence shows a black hole can accrete material via a channel created by its own motion through space.

newest coverage 10d agosummary written 11d ago11 pieces65 likes & upvotes64 comments NewswiresGoogle NewsHacker NewsMastodon

What to know

  • Astronomers observed the first direct evidence of a wandering black hole sustaining itself through accretion as it moves through space.
  • The discovery confirms theoretical predictions about how displaced black holes can feed via a wake of dragged gas, never before directly observed.
  • The findings were posted to arXiv on August 11 and subsequently reported by Phys.org.

“Astronomers have found the first direct evidence that a wandering black hole can feed itself by dragging gas along in its wake as it moves through its galaxy.”

Phys.org · Phys.org ↗ · Sep 8

Astronomers Researchers

How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 4 pieces in 4h at Sep 13, 2 AM; 11 pieces over 15 days (3 articles · 2 posts · 6 comments) Sep 9, 6 AM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Google News 1, Newswires 1Sep 9, 10 AM — quietSep 9, 2 PM — quietSep 9, 6 PM — quietSep 9, 10 PM — quietSep 10, 2 AM — quietSep 10, 6 AM — quietSep 10, 10 AM — quietSep 10, 2 PM — quietSep 10, 6 PM — quietSep 10, 10 PM — quietSep 11, 2 AM — quietSep 11, 6 AM — quietSep 11, 10 AM — quietSep 11, 2 PM — quietSep 11, 6 PM — quietSep 11, 10 PM — quietSep 12, 2 AM — quietSep 12, 6 AM — quietSep 12, 10 AM — quietSep 12, 2 PM — quietSep 12, 6 PM — quietSep 12, 10 PM — 3 pieces · 1 article · 1 post · 1 comment — Hacker News 2, Newswires 1Sep 13, 2 AM — 4 pieces · 1 post · 3 comments — Hacker News 3, Mastodon 1Sep 13, 6 AM — quietSep 13, 10 AM — 2 pieces · 2 comments — Hacker News 2Sep 13, 2 PM — quietSep 13, 6 PM — quietSep 13, 10 PM — quietSep 14, 2 AM — quietSep 14, 6 AM — quietSep 14, 10 AM — quietSep 14, 2 PM — quietSep 14, 6 PM — quietSep 14, 10 PM — quietSep 15, 2 AM — quietSep 15, 6 AM — quietSep 15, 10 AM — quietSep 15, 2 PM — quietSep 15, 6 PM — quietSep 15, 10 PM — quietSep 16, 2 AM — quietSep 16, 6 AM — quietSep 16, 10 AM — quietSep 16, 2 PM — quietSep 16, 6 PM — quietSep 16, 10 PM — quietSep 17, 2 AM — quietSep 17, 6 AM — quietSep 17, 10 AM — quietSep 17, 2 PM — quietSep 17, 6 PM — quietSep 17, 10 PM — quietSep 18, 2 AM — quietSep 18, 6 AM — quietSep 18, 10 AM — quietSep 18, 2 PM — quietSep 18, 6 PM — quietSep 18, 10 PM — quietSep 19, 2 AM — quietSep 19, 6 AM — quietSep 19, 10 AM — quietSep 19, 2 PM — quietSep 19, 6 PM — quietSep 19, 10 PM — quietSep 20, 2 AM — quietSep 20, 6 AM — quietSep 20, 10 AM — quietSep 20, 2 PM — quietSep 20, 6 PM — quietSep 20, 10 PM — quietSep 21, 2 AM — quietSep 21, 6 AM — quietSep 21, 10 AM — quietSep 21, 2 PM — quietSep 21, 6 PM — quietSep 21, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 2 AM — quietSep 22, 6 AM — quietSep 22, 10 AM — quietSep 22, 2 PM — quietSep 22, 6 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 6 AM — quiet 12
Sep 10Sep 12Sep 14Sep 16Sep 18Sep 20Sep 22now · 7:45 AM ET
  1. 2

    Discovery gains attention on Hacker News

    The Phys.org article about the wandering black hole discovery is shared on Hacker News, generating early discussion among the community.

    • Reminds me of https://science.nasa.gov/asset/hubble/runaway-black-hole-nea... A supermassive blackhole drawing in dust on such a scale that it's creating new stars in its wake as it zips by. (The picture is my desktop background. I think it nicely illustrates three fundamental shapes of the universe: 1) spheres (gravity dominates), 2) disks…

      kwoffHacker News10d agoview on Hacker News ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 6 posts in this stretch

    • What blows my mind is that 20 million light years also means that what we're observing something that happened 20 million years ago. We're looking into the very distant past, at something that might well no longer exist.Turn that around and there well could be other lifeforms observing the Earth with dinosaurs roaming around on it. Perhaps…

      Towaway69Hacker News11d agoview on Hacker News ↗

    • LegacySurvey deep link[1].Zooming out from there and one gets an appreciation for how (in)significant we really are.[1]

      Towaway69Hacker News11d agoview on Hacker News ↗
    all of them →
  2. 3 days quiet
  3. 1

    Phys.org publishes findings on black hole accretion discovery

    The discovery of the wandering black hole's feeding mechanism is reported by Phys.org, describing it as the first direct evidence of an accretion channel long predicted in theory but never before observed.

    1. 1 outlet A wandering black hole caught feeding on the run

      first by HN Frontpage, 11d ago

  4. background

    Paper describing wandering black hole feeding posted to arXiv — Astronomers released findings showing the first direct evidence that a wandering black hole can feed itself by dragging gas along in its wake as it moves through its galaxy, confirming long-predicted theory about accretion channels.

What people are saying 2 voices from 1 site · best of 6 · verbatim