Black holes aren't all doom and gloom. Some of these incredibly dense matter-suckers fling powerful jets of light and charged particles — the space version of a fireworks show.
The astrophysicist's groundbreaking research on spiral galaxies provided evidence of invisible dark matter. She was a pioneer in an era when women were excluded from many astronomy programs.
Hold out your hand for a century, and 100 million particles of dark matter will pass through each second without leaving a trace. Still, a physicist in South Dakota thinks he may be able to catch one.