The possibility of sending a tiny spacecraft to a nearby black hole has sparked excitement among astrophysicists. Cosimo Bambi, an expert on black holes, has outlined the blueprint for such a mission in the journal iScience. If successful, this century-long journey could revolutionize our understanding of physics and the laws governing space and time.

Bambi believes that with advancements in technology, it’s not entirely impossible to achieve this feat. The first challenge lies in finding a black hole close enough to target. Previous knowledge suggests there might be one lurking 20-25 light-years from Earth, but detecting it won’t be easy due to their invisible nature. Instead, scientists study them by observing the effects they have on nearby stars or distortions in light.

New techniques for discovering black holes may lead to finding a nearby one within the next decade. Once identified, the next hurdle is getting there with a spacecraft that can withstand the journey. Bambi proposes using nanocrafts – gram-scale probes consisting of a microchip and light sail – accelerated by Earth-based lasers to a third of the speed of light.

At this pace, the craft could reach a black hole 20-25 light-years away in about 70 years, with data gathering taking another two decades to get back to Earth. This would make the total mission duration around 80-100 years. Upon reaching the black hole, researchers can run experiments to answer pressing questions like: does it truly have an event horizon? Do the rules of physics change near a black hole? And does Einstein’s theory of general relativity hold under extreme conditions?

Bambi acknowledges that creating such a spacecraft is currently beyond our capabilities and would require significant advancements in technology. However, with advancements in funding and technological progress over the next 30 years, he believes it may be possible to make this vision a reality.

As Bambi notes, people once thought detecting gravitational waves or observing black hole shadows was impossible, but we achieved those milestones within a century. This work highlights the power of human ingenuity and our relentless pursuit of understanding the universe’s secrets.

The discovery of a star that survived an encounter with a supermassive black hole and came back for more has left astronomers stunned. For decades, scientists have observed spectacular flares caused by stars falling onto these cosmic monsters, only to be destroyed in the process. However, a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University has made a groundbreaking finding: one such flare, named AT 2022dbl, was repeated nearly two years after its initial occurrence, suggesting that at least part of the star survived.

Led by Dr. Lydia Makrygianni and Prof. Iair Arcavi, the study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters reveals that this flare might not have been a full stellar disruption as previously thought. Instead, it could be a result of the partial destruction of the star, with much of its material surviving to come back for a second, nearly identical passage.

The implications of this finding are significant. If future flares from the same location occur at regular intervals, it would suggest that these events might not be one-off occurrences but rather part of a more complex and dynamic process. “This discovery upends conventional wisdom about such tidal disruption events,” says Prof. Arcavi. “We’ll have to re-write our interpretation of these flares and what they can teach us about the monsters lying in the centers of galaxies.”

The study’s findings also challenge long-held assumptions about black holes, which are notoriously difficult to study due to their complete darkness. By observing the aftermath of a star’s encounter with a supermassive black hole, scientists have gained valuable insights into these enigmatic objects.

As researchers continue to investigate this phenomenon, they may uncover even more secrets about the complex interactions between stars and supermassive black holes. The question now is: will we see a third flare after two more years, in early 2026?

The NASA Europa Clipper mission has achieved a significant milestone by successfully testing its Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON) instrument during a flyby of Mars in March. The test, which was impossible to conduct on Earth due to the scale and complexity of the radar system, aimed to determine the radar’s readiness for the mission at Jupiter’s moon Europa.

The REASON instrument, which will “see” into Europa’s icy shell, may have pockets of water inside, uses two pairs of slender antennas that jut out from the solar arrays, spanning a distance of about 58 feet (17.6 meters). This unusual radar setup for an interplanetary spacecraft was designed to catch as much light as possible at Europa, which receives only about 1/25th the sunlight as Earth.

During the Mars flyby, REASON sent and received radio waves for about 40 minutes, collecting a wealth of data that will help scientists understand how the ice may capture materials from the ocean and transfer them to the surface of the moon. The instrument’s performance was deemed successful, with engineers able to collect 60 gigabytes of rich data.

The Europa Clipper mission’s primary goal is to determine the thickness of the ice shell on Europa and its interactions with the ocean below. The REASON radar will play a crucial role in achieving this objective, providing scientists with valuable insights into the moon’s composition and geology. With the success of the REASON test, the mission is now one step closer to unlocking the secrets of Jupiter’s icy moon and potentially discovering habitable worlds beyond our planet.

The Europa Clipper spacecraft is currently on its journey to reach Europa, which will take approximately 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) and include a gravity assist using Earth in 2026. The mission is managed by Caltech, led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and includes partners such as the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

As scientists continue to analyze the data from the REASON test, they are exercising their skills and preparing for the detailed exploration of Europa that will take place in the future. The mission has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the solar system and provide new insights into the astrobiological potential of habitable worlds beyond Earth.