Scientists use XRISM spacecraft to predict the fate of matter surrounding a supermassive black hole

Black Hole Week is in full swing right now, and to celebrate, NASA has released stunning observations of the heart of a distant spiral galaxy - as well as the gigantic supermassive black hole that resides at that heart.

The observations were conducted by the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) with contributions from NASA; they show the center of spiral galaxy NGC 4151.

Located some 43 million light-years away (as well as its incumbent supermassive black hole, which is estimated to have as many as 20 million suns), this galaxy is ...