Invisible matter slowing star movement may be devoured by black holes.

Scientists may have discovered indirect evidence that large amounts of invisible dark matter surround black holes, which could represent a major breakthrough in dark matter research. The team of scientists from The Education University of Hong Kong used stars orbiting black holes in binary systems as proxies to infer the presence of dark matter. The slow-down of the stars' orbits was the result of dark matter surrounding the black holes, generating significant friction and a drag on the stars as they whipped around their high-mass partners. The team's results help to confirm a long-held theory in cosmology that black holes can swallow dark matter that comes close enough to them.