Warp drive spacecraft, illustration. This warp drive is a theoretical concept where a spacecraft travels faster than light by contracting the space in front of it (red) and expanding the space behind it (blue). This expansion and contraction is shown...

... m. They are created when massive stars die. This one is surrounded by an accretion disc of material, the light from which is warped by the strong gravity. Both the front of the disc and the portion behind the black hole are visible. ...

... m. They are created when massive stars die. This one is surrounded by an accretion disc of material, the light from which is warped by the strong gravity. Both the front of the disc and the portion behind the black hole are visible. ...

Animation of an accretion disc around a black hole. Commissioned by the Simons Foundation for a press release....

Animation of an accretion disc around a black hole with jets being emitted. Commissioned by the Simons Foundation for a press release....

Black holes normally reveal themselves in astronomy because they are surrounded by discs of gas, heated to high temperatures, stolen from nearby stars. The X-rays emitted from these accretion discs give away the black hole although it cannot itself b...

A black hole is an object so compact - usually a collapsed star - that nothing can escape its gravitational pull. Not even light. On Earth an object needs to be launched with a speed of 11 km/s if it is to escape the planet's gravity and go into orbi...