7 majestic images of Black Holes captured by NASA

What is a Black Hole?

A black hole is a dense, compact object whose gravitational pull is so strong that – within a certain distance of it – nothing can escape, not even light.

Using the Event Horizon Telescope, scientists obtained an image of the black hole at the center of the galaxy M87.

This is the galaxy known as NGC 5548. At its heart, though not visible here, is a supermassive black hole behaving in a strange and unexpected manner.

A binary black hole (BBH), or black hole binary, is a system consisting of two black holes in close orbit around each other. 

Black holes launch beams of energy, or jets, that are made up of subatomic particles, electrons, positrons, and magnetic fields.

This image of black hole with a chaotic ring captured by NASA shows the intense gravitational light emanating from black hole.

A behemoth black hole is a supermassive black hole that is much larger than the black hole in our Milky Way galaxy

A dying star can collapse and give birth to a black hole or neutron star. The newborn object can then consume the star from the inside, releasing a huge burst of energy.

Credit: NASA