See how a supermassive black hole holds on to a ‘fluffy’ disk in this simulation

a giant swirl of red and yellow fire. hints of green are faintly present in the yellows.

Supermassive black holes are giants millions to billions of times more massive than our Sun that reside at the centers of most galaxies in our universe, including our own. Milky Way — and they are best known for the brilliant disks of gas that swirl around them. These disks are the remains of ill-fated stars … Read more

Astronomers discover the largest planet-forming disk we’ve ever seen

About 1,000 light-years from Earth lies a cosmic structure known as IRAS 23077+6707 (IRAS 23077), which resembles a giant butterfly. Ciprian T. Berghea, an astronomer at the US Naval Observatory, originally observed the structure in 2016 using the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). To the surprise of many, the structure has remained … Read more