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Cosmic Explosions
MARCH 2007
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Hidden Black Holes
Image by D. Finkbeiner (hydrogen)/ESA, INTEGRAL, V. Beckmann, and NASA-GSFC (gamma ray)
On a panorama of the sky made at x-ray wavelengths by Europe's INTEGRAL satellite, diamond-shaped marks indicate the locations of black holes. Produced when the most massive stars explode, black holes are invisible, but gas sucked in by their potent gravity is heated to millions of degrees and shines brightly in x-rays. "The best way to think about a black hole is like a waterfall that goes off a cliff," says astrophysicist Andrew Hamilton. "Except it's space that is falling in."
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