Hubble directly observes the disc around a black hole

[xSilverPhinx]

A team of scientists has used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to observe a quasar accretion disc - a brightly glowing disc of matter that is slowly being sucked into its galaxy's central black hole. Their study makes use of a novel technique that uses gravitational lensing to give an immense boost to the power of the telescope. The incredible precision of the method has allowed astronomers to directly measure the disc's size and plot the temperature across different parts of the disc.

http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=49554

Luckily for them a galaxy just happened to pass between us and a quasar, causing a natural telescope of sorts. 

[Tank]

Facsinating stuff.

It never ceases to amaze me that after what the Hubble has shown us that there should be any question over the replacemet the James Web!

[joeactor]

Truly awesome - thanks for posting it!

[Xjeepguy]

And to think that the Hubble was originally thought to be a lost cause, it turns out to be the most useful tool of astronomy ever made. Very cool, thanks for sharing.

[xSilverPhinx]

And to think that the Hubble was originally thought to be a lost cause, it turns out to be the most useful tool of astronomy ever made. Very cool, thanks for sharing.

Which I find to be frankly odd, given that it's not limited by our pesky atmosphere

Damn, all that ar and stuff can really get in the way sometimes for our limited spectrum...