Ask Dr. Universe podcast explores black holes and how astronomers find them

The latest episode of the Ask Dr. Universe podcast takes listeners into the mysterious world of black holes with Washington State University astrophysicist Vivienne Baldassare. In the episode, Baldassare explains what black holes are, how they grow, and why even light cannot escape them.

Listeners learn how astronomers study objects they cannot see directly by looking for their influence on nearby gas and stars. Baldassare describes her search for relatively small supermassive black holes and how subtle changes in light can reveal gas swirling around and feeding a black hole.

The episode also explores Baldassare's career as a scientist, including her discovery as a graduate student of a black hole about 50,000 times the mass of the sun. She discusses how the Vera C. Rubin Observatory could advance her research, shares her thoughts on life elsewhere in the universe, and encourages young people interested in science to remain curious and keep asking questions.

Ask Dr. Universe is a science education project from WSU that answers real questions from curious kids around the world. Readers and listeners can submit their own questions and explore more columns, videos and episodes of the Ask Dr. Universe podcast online.