Supermassive black hole caught hiding in a ring of cosmic dust

A close-up view of Messier 77’s active galactic nucleus (ESO/Jaffe, Gamez-Rosas et al)

A supermassive black hole has been caught hiding in a ring of cosmic dust.

The findings confirm predictions made around 30 years ago and give astronomers new insight into some of the brightest and most mysterious objects in the universe – active galactic nuclei (AGN).