Astronomers have developed a new tool called the Black Hole Finder app, created by the Dutch Black Hole Consortium. This app is designed to help everyday people—like you—discover newly-formed black holes. It’s available in eight different languages, making it accessible to people worldwide. Using this app, you can actively find black holes and contribute to important scientific research.

Kilonova Background:

A kilonova is a rare and powerful event in space that happens when two neutron stars, which are extremely dense remnants of stars, collide with each other. This crash can create a black hole. The first kilonova was detected on August 18, 2017, and it was a major discovery for astronomers. When these neutron stars merged, they produced a brief but intense flash of light and eventually formed a black hole.

Role of Artificial Intelligence:

The app uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help sort through the vast amount of signals that might indicate a kilonova or a black hole. AI is very good at quickly processing large amounts of data, but it can sometimes miss subtle patterns that a human might notice. That’s where users like you come in. By using the app and spotting these patterns, you help improve the AI’s ability to recognize important astronomical events.

Citizen Contributions:

If you successfully identify a real astronomical event using the app, it can trigger follow-up observations by a network of robotic telescopes managed by the Las Cumbres Observatory. This means your discovery could lead to more detailed studies of that event, making your contribution incredibly valuable to scientists. Your participation helps speed up the process of finding and studying these fascinating events in space.

The Black Hole Finder app is more than just a tool—it’s a way for people everywhere to join in the scientific quest to explore black holes and uncover the mysteries of the universe. By working together, scientists and citizens can make groundbreaking discoveries that deepen our understanding of the cosmos.