Scientists find black holes where they shouldn't exist
Scientists just spotted one of the most massive black hole mergers on record—two massive black holes collided to form a giant black hole, seven billion light-years away.
What's wild? These sizes fall into a "mass gap" where, according to physics, black holes aren't supposed to exist.
Black holes that shouldn't be there
Normally, stars this big should blow themselves apart and leave nothing behind.
But these merged black holes defy that rule, suggesting there's more going on with how stars die and turn into black holes than we thought.
The role of magnetic fields in black hole formation
A research team led by Ore Gottlieb ran new simulations including magnetic fields—something earlier studies skipped.
Turns out, strong magnetic forces can blast away much of a star's mass at nearly light speed before it collapses.
This could explain how these "impossible" black holes form in the first place.
Why this matters
Magnetic fields also influence how fast these stars spin as they collapse, connecting rotation with final mass.
All in all, magnetic fields may be key to understanding how super-heavy, fast-spinning black holes like those in GW231123 come together—and why space keeps surprising us.