THEY are the intergalactic phenomena that have puzzled experts for decades.

Scientists have known about black holes for four decades, but the answers to questions on why they form and how powerful they are have so far eluded scientists.

But that could be about to change in a major space mission involving an expert from Southampton, which aims to use “Superman vision” to explore them. It comes after experts this week said that the Earth could be turned into “spaghetti” and pulled apart if it came into contact with a black hole.

Black holes are places in space where gravity is so strong nothing escapes it, even light. Dr Poshak Gandhi from the University of Southampton is among the international team working with the high-tech Hitomi space telescope to observe them and find out more. The satellite was launched into space from Japan yesterday with the ASTRO-H mission set to last for the next three years.

Dr Gandhi is among more than 200 astronomers from across the world who will study black holes, galaxies and other “hot” and dense objects in the universe in the project. With most black holes hard to explore as they are hidden behind enormous gas and dust clouds, the ASTRO-H telescope will use X-ray spectroscopy to carry out a more thorough investigation of black holes than has been possible before.

Dr Gandhi said: “This new space telescope represents the culmination of decades of research and development into space X-ray detector technologies led by Japan, but the scientific challenges that ASTRO-H will tackle require the combined expertise of astronomers the world over.

“I am very excited to be part of this international collaborative effort, and look forward to solving mysteries that have long puzzled us.”

Dr Gandhi, an associate professor and STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellow in the University of Southampton’s Astronomy Group, has been part of the ASTRO-H mission since 2010. The mission will aim to understand how black holes attract matter from their surroundings and grow, as well as showing how black holes and galaxies interact.

He said: “One part of research focus at Southampton is the study of growing supermassive black holes at the centres of nearby galaxies.

“As Superman’s X-ray vision allows him to peer through walls, so ASTRO-H’s X-ray vision will be able to penetrate the veiling clouds surrounding black holes and will also be sensitive to any light reflected and scattered by these clouds."

“This, in turn, will allow us to determine all kinds of important properties of the interstellar clouds and the black holes that are hidden within them, including how powerful the black holes are, how much matter there is in the veiling clouds, and what kind of motion the clouds have.

“This will give us important insight into the growth of these black holes and their interaction with the large scale galaxy.”