This app lets you help scientists find new black holes
Image: NASA
Scientists from the Dutch Black Hole Consortium are on a mission to find novel black holes. But the task is a monumental one, as the light from the genesis of a black hole fades quickly, so they’re asking ordinary folks to pore over pictures of possible candidates using an app called Black Hole Finder to help them decide where to train their telescopes.
The images are collected by BlackGEM telescopes in Chile that, when a gravitational wave is detected, immediately start scanning the sky for quickly fading light from kilonovas — bright flashes that appear when two neutron stars merge to form a black hole. The light lasts for a week at most, according to the app, making it important to find the most likely candidates quickly. Some things…