Chandra Deep Field-South and illustration of a supermassive black hole (Image X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Rome/E.Pezzulli et al. Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)

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An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” describes a research about the growth mechanisms of supermassive black holes. A team of six Italian researchers led by Edward Pezzulli, a PhD student of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Rome proposed a model that predicts that these objects can reach masses even billions of times the Sun’s not with a steady growth but with periodic “meals” that are very quick during whith they swallow huge amounts of materials.

The Dragon space cargo ship blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Photo NASA/Bill Ingalls)

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A few hours ago SpaceX Dragon spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in its CRS-11 (Cargo Resupply Service 11) mission, also referred to as SPX-11. After just over ten minutes it separated successfully from the rocket’s last stage and went en route. This is the 11th mission for the Dragon spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station with various cargoes and then return to Earth, again with various cargoes.

Halos in Martian silica (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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An article published in the journal “Geophysical Research Letters” describes a research on silica halos discovered in the lower areas of the northern slopes of Aeolis Mons in the Gale Crater on Mars. A team of researchers led by Jens Frydenvang used the information gathered by NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity to try to figure out for how long there was liquid water, concluding that the needed conditions lasted longer than expected.