“There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” -Ray Goforth
Peering into the densely packed core of Omega Centauri, the Hubble Space Telescope provides a spell-binding look at one of the galaxy’s largest globular clusters, a swarm of more than two million suns some 17,000 light years from Earth. Easily visible to the unaided eye in the southern constellation Centaurus, Omega Centauri may harbour a black hole with about 40,000 times the mass of the Sun based on the higher-then-expected velocities of stars near its core. Astronomers have long theorised such intermediate-mass black holes may be a common feature of globular clusters, providing the gravitational glue holding the huge assemblies together.
Extremely magnetic, ultra-dense stars
It s taken nearly 15 years to begin untangling the mystery of fast radio bursts. Initial hypotheses included evaporating black holes, flaring dead stars, colliding dense objects, and yes, even alien technologies (spoiler: it s not aliens). Further clues, from nano-scale structures within the radio bursts to their millisecond duration and intensity, suggested they must be produced by extremely dense, compact objects.
So, scientists turned to objects such as black holes and neutron stars, which are left over when massive stars blow themselves to bits in supernovae. Later, observations suggested that some bursts are born in regions with extreme magnetic fields, further suggesting these mysterious signals could come from magnetars.
The universe is a fascinating place – a vast cosmic void home to all kinds of strange and spellbinding things. Black holes. Neutron stars. White dwarfs.