Black holes

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Regions where gravity wins. From stellar remnants a few times the Sun's mass to the giants anchoring entire galaxies.

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What is a black hole?

A region where matter has collapsed so densely that nothing — not even light — escapes past its event horizon. The glowing ring in images is superheated infalling gas, not the hole itself.

How we find them

By their influence: stars orbiting an invisible mass, X-rays from accreting gas, and gravitational waves from mergers. Three classes: stellar, intermediate, supermassive.

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