TRANSICIÓN || Illustration of Cool Dust Around an Active Black Hole | NASA

Illustration of Cool Dust Around an Active Black Hole | NASA

Illustration of 

Cool Dust Around 

an Active Black Hole

This artist illustration shows the thick ring of dust that can obscure the energetic processes that occur near the supermassive black hole of an active galactic nuclei.

Researchers at the University of Texas San Antonio, using observations from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), found that the dust surrounding active, ravenous black holes is much more compact than previously thought.

More: SOFIA Finds Cool Dust Around Energetic Active Black Holes

Image Credit: NASA/SOFIA/Lynette Cook

Last Updated: June 13, 2017

Editor: Sarah Loff