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The Conversation
The Conversation
Christian Wolf, Associate Professor, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University

Why do black holes twinkle? We studied 5,000 star-eating behemoths to find out

Somchat Parkaythong/Shutterstock

Black holes are bizarre things, even by the standards of astronomers. Their mass is so great, it bends space around them so tightly that nothing can escape, even light itself.

And yet, despite their famous blackness, some black holes are quite visible. The gas and stars these galactic vacuums devour are sucked into a glowing disc before their one-way trip into the hole, and these discs can shine more brightly than entire galaxies.

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