When a star dies, it sucks all matter — including the surrounding light — into a super dense hole that is too dark to see. This is what scientists call a “black hole.” The gravitational force of a black hole is so powerful that nothing inside can escape it. Only very big stars become black holes when they die. Smaller ones, like our sun, will eventually become dense “neutron stars,” dense, compact stars.

Even though we can’t see black holes, we know they exist because their gravitational fields affect everything around them. In fact, black holes are everywhere in the universe. According to NASA, there are somewhere between ten million to a billion black holes in our galaxy, the Milky Way, alone. 

According to CNN, a new black hole has been recently uncovered in our next-door galaxy — the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. Scientists discovered this black hole by observing the way its gravity affected the motion of a nearby sun. It was the first time scientists ever used such a technique, which may prove useful for uncovering more black holes in the future. 

Black holes are usually discovered by the X-rays they give off or gravitational waves they make when they crash into one another or with neutron stars. While it’s easy to spot large black holes this way, smaller ones are a lot harder to detect. The new technique is exciting because it helped uncover a smaller, younger black hole (only about 100 million years old!). 

Want to learn more about black holes? Celebrate Black Hole Friday!

What is Black Hole Friday?

Black Hole Friday is an effort by NASA to rebrand “Black Friday” — a discount shopping-spree day in the United States — as a day to celebrate black holes. It takes place each year on the last Friday of November. 

Check out this video from NASA to learn more about black holes.

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