In reality, a black hole’s gravitational influence is limited. Like any other massive object, its pull weakens with distance. According to NASA, even the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A, only strongly affects the stars in its immediate neighbourhood. Located about 26,000 light years from Earth, it poses no threat to our planet. Most …
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In 2023, astronomers recorded one of the most extraordinary space explosions they had ever seen. It took place some 750 million light-years away, flaring into the detectors of the Zwicky Transient Facility on 7 July. At first, it looked just like a normal supernova – the explosive death of a star – and astronomers named it SN 2023zkd. Six months …
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Black holes are dark, menacing objects with gravity so intense that not even light can escape, so you don’t want to mess with them. A recent discovery of one of the strangest supernovas ever observed reveals the tragic story of a star that tried to defy the powerful pull of a nearby black hole but later conceded in an explosive …
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Black holes embody the ultimate abyss. They are the most powerful sources of gravity in the universe, capable of dramatically distorting space and time around them. When disturbed, they begin to “ring” in a distinctive pattern known as quasinormal modes: ripples in space-time that produce detectable gravitational waves. In events like black hole mergers, these waves can be strong enough …
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Burmese pythons can grow up to 19 feet (almost six metres) in length. Such a big body requires big meals. They eat prey as large as cattle – and they eat them whole. No tearing into bite-size chunks, no chewing. Everything goes down all at once, bones and all. Snakes that are fed a boneless diet suffer from calcium deficiency, so digesting skeletons is important for their health. But how they avoid absorbing …
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