NICER Charts the Area Around a New Black Hole

Scientists have mapped the environment surrounding a black hole that is 10 times the mass of the Sun using NASA s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) payload aboard the International Space Station. NICER detected Xray light from a recently discovered black hole, called MAXI J1820+070 (J1820 for short), as it consumed material from a companion star. Waves of Xrays formed light echoes that reflected off the swirling gas near the black hole and revealed changes in the environment s size and