Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have developed a new type of amplifier for boosting electrical signals. The device can be used for everything from studying stars, galaxies, and black holes to exploring the quantum world and developing quantum computers. The new amplifier consists of a [continue reading]
Observations with CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Compact Array have confirmed that astronomers have found the first known “middleweight” black hole. Galaxy ESO 243-49, about 300 million light-years away, is home to the newly found black hole. Credit: NASA, ESA and S. Farrell (University of Sydney) Outbursts of super-hot gas observed with a CSIRO radio telescope [continue reading]
How do you see the invisible? That’s the puzzle faced by astronomers wanting to study black holes. A black hole gets its name for good reason – its strong gravity is so extreme that nothing can escape it, not even light. But with the right technology and some clever techniques, the invisible will be revealed [continue reading]