A high-altitude telescope just changed what we know about black holes

A high-altitude telescope just changed what we know about black holes

Scientists flew the XL-Calibur telescope on a high-altitude balloon to measure polarized X-rays from Cygnus X-1. These measurements reveal details about the chaotic, superheated material swirling around black holes. The team also captured data from the Crab pulsar and achieved multiple technical breakthroughs during the 2024 mission. Another flight from Antarctica is expected to expand this cosmic investigation.

Balloon telescope sheds new light on pulsars and black holes

Long before rockets and satellites reached space, the Crab Nebula stood out as a steady beacon of high-energy light. At its center sits a dense, rapidly spinning neutron star that turns every 33.8 milliseconds. That spin feeds a constant storm of charged particles, which glow in X-rays as they sweep through a cloud of energized gas. For decades, astronomers have relied on imaging, timing and spectroscopy to study this object’s structure, from it…