August 4, 2026 · University Marketing & Communications
A First in a 10-Million-Star Cluster
A U-led black hole discovery reached 488 million readers in 25 countries.
University of Utah astronomers mined archival Hubble and James Webb data to find oMEGACat BH-2 — the first stellar-mass black hole ever detected in Omega Centauri, the Milky Way’s largest globular cluster, and the first of an expected 10,000. NASA’s July 13 release drew 153 stories across 137 outlets in three weeks, led by MSN, Yahoo! News, AOL, Gizmodo, Space.com and Scientific American.
Also carried: Heise online (DE) · Scientific American · KSL-TV · Phys.org · Spektrum der Wissenschaft (DE) · European Space Agency · Miami Herald · The Kansas City Star · The News & Observer · Earth.com · KUER 90.1 · KSL NewsRadio · The Salt Lake Tribune
Coverage Velocity
Jul 12–13
13
Jul 14
21
Jul 15
41
Jul 16
65
Jul 17–20
6
Jul 21–Aug 3
7
Reach peaked July 14 (275.9M) when the national aggregators ran it. Volume peaked two days later — 65 hits on July 16 — as international science desks followed. 91% of all coverage landed in the first four days.
Geographic Spread
89 U.S. pickups (58%) · 64 international (42%) across 24 countries
United Kingdom
16
China
10
India
5
Germany
4
Japan
3
Italy
2
Coverage ran in four languages. Top U.S. states: California (9), Utah (7), New York (7), Washington (5), South Carolina (4).
* AVE numbers are estimates and accuracy may vary. Reach and views are upper-bound estimates from Meltwater.
Source: Meltwater export, Aug 4, 2026 · 10:46 AM. Search: Omega Centauri OR oMEGACat OR NGC 5139 OR Caldwell 80 + black holes + University of Utah. Window: Jul 12 – Aug 3, 2026.