Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Black Holes and Neutron Stars: 218 Mergers and Counting

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for March 26, 2026 is “Black Holes and Neutron Stars: 218 Mergers and Counting,” an image. It is credited to Image Credit: Ryan Nowicki , Bill Smith & Karan Jani Text: Cecilia Chirenti ( NASA GSFC , UMCP , CRESST II ). The original explanation runs about 167 words.

218 plots shown on a grid represent all of the mergers of black holes and neutron stars detected in gravitational waves and reported to date. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
Credit: Image Credit: Ryan Nowicki , Bill Smith & Karan Jani Text: Cecilia Chirenti ( NASA GSFC , UMCP , CRESST II ) Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“What is the sound of two black holes merging in deep space? Sound waves don’t propagate in vacuum, but gravitational waves do.”

— APOD editors, March 26, 2026

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
March 26, 2026
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit: Ryan Nowicki , Bill Smith & Karan Jani Text: Cecilia Chirenti ( NASA GSFC , UMCP , CRESST II )
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 167 words

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Topics in this entry

Black holes

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: March 26 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.