This week was a big one for space news: In today’s newsletter, we look at two black holes that appear to be on the cusp of combining into one, the fine details of a star’s last breath and the celestial celebration that was Wednesday’s solar eclipse. Plus: the most read science article this week. Black holes on the verge of merging
When a group of astronomers set out two years ago to map parts of the ancient cosmos, they had hoped to find galaxies that contained two black holes. The universe did them one better: They found a galaxy with three. It’s the first time scientists have found evidence of a young galaxy that hosts a trio of active supermassive black holes. Two of them are so close together that they appear to be on the verge of merging. Such a discovery wasn’t possible until about four years ago, when the powerful James Webb Space Telescope began capturing images of cosmic light that has been traveling from the outer reaches of the universe for over 13 billion years. Star death in detail
High in the mountains of northern Chile, the MOTHRA telescope is under construction but is already offering a new look at some of the universe’s most difficult-to-photograph processes, including a star’s death. After turning the telescope toward the oft-photographed Helix Nebula, scientists recently saw faint bands of stellar debris around it dissolving into space. “We saw that image, and we were like, This is new. This is something that we’ve never seen before,” Pieter van Dokkum, a physicist at Yale University, said. The Helix Nebula, sometimes called the “Eye of God” because of its eyelike shape, is an example of what a star can look like at the end of its life cycle. Although that nebula was first spotted back in 1893 and is well known for its large size and proximity to Earth, prior scientists hadn’t had the equipment available to see the dim outermost bands of debris shown in the new photo. Day to dark
The first total solar eclipse Europe has seen in decades swept across the continent on Wednesday, turning day to dark across several countries, as crowds watched from hilltops, coastlines and other open spaces. In Spain, normally empty towns filled up. Other people trekked to far-flung North Atlantic destinations. As our reporter Katrina Miller wrote: “Totality is a heady reminder that we are on a rock twirling around a star in space, part of a system of planets within a galaxy that exists inside of an infinite universe. But more than that, it offers a primal sense of what it means to be human, through shared despair and delight under a celestial rebirth. We are all so consumed by our problems on the ground. Sometimes, we need a reason to look up.” If you missed this summer’s eclipse, don’t worry. There are still a handful of opportunities to catch the “eclipse of the century” next year on Aug. 2, 2027. In some places, darkness will last as long as an incredible six minutes and 23 seconds. We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.
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