In dark skies, findings of black holes, red dwarves

From UCSB, UCLA & Caltech

There's lots of new light and insight into what's going on in the skies above. In Santa Barbara, researchers on an international team say they're observing four ginormous black holes in the center of galaxies and they think they'll learn enormous amounts as a result about the function of these astronomical phenomena. They're a billion light years away and were sighted with two telescopes in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the largest optical-infrared models on the planet, and followed up on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope. If you want a fill on black holes, by the way, a Bruin expert provided one at the always delightful TED program. Meantime, in Pasadena, they say that another international team has found that the tiny twinkle that's at the crook of the Big Dipper has a surprise -- a twin star. It's a faint, smaller red dwarf. 

Photo: British infrared images confirming four black holes /  M. Kishimoto, MPIfR

A billion light years away, a discovery of four massive black holes in space

How do astronomers observe something they can't see?

A twist in the Big Dipper: a finding of a faint, small red dwarf star