Space.com was on duty all year to bring you every major development in our understanding of the universe's most fascinating entities.
The article from MSN titled "The Top 7 Black Hole Discoveries from 2024" highlights several groundbreaking findings in the field of astrophysics. It discusses the discovery of the closest known black hole to Earth, located just 1,600 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus, named Gaia BH1. Another significant discovery was the observation of a supermassive black hole in the galaxy GN-z11, which existed when the universe was only 400 million years old, challenging previous theories about black hole formation. Additionally, astronomers detected a medium-sized black hole, a rare find that bridges the gap between stellar-mass and supermassive black holes, offering insights into black hole growth mechanisms. The article also covers the first direct image of a black hole's photon ring, providing visual evidence of Einstein's theory of general relativity. Furthermore, there were advancements in understanding the behavior of matter around black holes, including the detection of a star being shredded by a black hole's tidal forces, known as a tidal disruption event. These discoveries collectively enhance our understanding of black holes, their formation, and their interaction with the surrounding cosmos.
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