Astronomy › Section R · Black holes and curved spacetime › Topic R.4
Evidence for black holes
A black hole gives off no light of its own, yet astronomers have weighed dozens, watched stars race around one at the centre of our galaxy and even photographed the shadows of two. The trick is to study what a black hole does to its surroundings.
In this topic
- How to find something black
- The recipe for a stellar black hole
- Worked example: weighing an unseen companion
- Cygnus X-1 and its relatives
- Quiet black holes
- The black hole at the centre of the Milky Way
- Worked example: weighing Sagittarius A*
- Pictures of black hole shadows
- A whole range of masses
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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