Black Holes - Tumblr Posts
sagittarius a* is a dumb name
The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milkyway galaxy is named Sagittarius A* (pronounced Sagittarius A Star). It's named after the Sagittarius constellation and the asterisk denotes that its discovery was "exciting", in reference to excited-state atoms. (excited Helium is He*)
This name is obviously very dumb because it's not a heckin' star, so why do I have to say "star" in it's name?. Imagine if the sun's name inexplicably was "Sol Blackhole" but it's not a black hole, that would be needlessly confusing and dumb.
It's the most important blackhole in the universe as far as we're concerned. It should get a real name, like Milkydestination or Gigantarius A° (pronounced Gigantarius A Hole).
Other people: get drunk, and have fun?—I don’t actually know what normal people do when they drink.
What I do, is have entire conversations with astrophysicists (Neil Degrasse Tyson) in my head about the mathematical properties of black holes.
Ok, so look, but why are black holes mathematically classified as spheres? Don’t turning objects get flatter? I figure planets are still sphere-ish because they just don’t turn fast enough/aren’t dense enough. But black holes? Guys, we need to figure this out.
I know black holes gotta be spinning—they were once spinning suns! And we’re seeing the light from behind them, so it’s gotta be spinning.
Is it like an infinitely dense still point surrounded by spinning junk? But isn’t that also considered part of the black hole? Where does the black hole start and end? The event horizon I know gotta be spinning, so is that part a flat disk? It’s the quintessential knowledge point of black holes: black holes contain an event horizon, but if they’re not the outer layer of a spherical they’re not part of the black hole vis a vis mathematics definition.
Why. Are. Black. Holes. Spheres. Help.
Hello! I hope you are having a good day! if you like space what is your favorite thing in space? Example: Nebula, Galaxy, Plantes, black hole, etc.
mine is probably black holes or Nebulas
Stay safe!
Oh hi! This is my first ever ask on here!
And good gods above this is a tough question, bc everything up in space is just *so* interesting. I gotta say black holes and the expansion of the universe are the most interesting things scientifically, but nebulas and galaxies are very pleasing visually. Planets and stars are also really interesting especially with just how varied and different they can be- even in our own solar system we have so many different varieties of planets! None of our planets are anything alike and it's so amazing.
Another really interesting thing to think about is the way things travel through space, like light, heat, etc. It's especially exciting (for me at least) to think about how many things must be accounted for when making spacecraft, which is a far-away dream but a dream nonetheless for me.
Have a good day & stay safe as well!
10 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World’s Largest Flying Observatory
On the night of May 26, 2010, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, the world’s largest flying observatory, first peered into the cosmos. Its mission: to study celestial objects and astronomical phenomena with infrared light. Many objects in space emit almost all their energy at infrared wavelengths. Often, they are invisible when observed in ordinary, visible light. Over the last decade, the aircraft’s 106-inch telescope has been used to study black holes, planets, galaxies, star-forming nebulas and more! The observations have led to major breakthroughs in astronomy, revolutionizing our understanding of the solar system and beyond. To celebrate its 10 years of exploration, here’s a look at the top 10 discoveries made by our telescope on a plane:
The Universe’s First Type of Molecule
Scientists believe that around 100,000 years after the big bang, helium and hydrogen combined to make a molecule called helium hydride. Its recent discovery confirms a key part of our basic understanding of the early universe.
A New View of the Milky Way
More than a pretty picture, this panorama of cosmic scale reveals details that can help explain how massive stars are born and what’s feeding our Milky Way galaxy’s supermassive black hole.
When Planets Collide
A double-star system that is more than 300 light-years away likely had an extreme collision between two of its rocky planets. A similar event in our own solar system may have formed our Moon.
How A Black Hole Feasts
Fear not, the dark, my friend. And let the feast begin! Magnetic fields in the Cygnus A galaxy are trapping material where it is close enough to be devoured by a hungry black hole.
Somewhere Like Home
The planetary system around Epsilon Eridani, a star located about 10 light-years away, has an architecture remarkably similar to our solar system. What’s more, its central star is a younger, fainter version of our Sun.
A Quiet Place
Black holes in many galaxies are actively consuming material, but our Milky Way galaxy’s central black hole is relatively quiet. Observations show magnetic fields may be directing material around, not into, the belly of the beast.
The Great Escape
Ever wonder how material leaves a galaxy? The wind flowing from the center of the Cigar Galaxy is so strong it’s pulling a magnetic field — and the mass of 50 to 60 million Suns — with it.
Exploding Star, New Worlds
What happens when a star goes boom? It turns out that supernova explosions can produce a substantial amount of material from which planets like Earth can form.
Stellar Sibling Rivalry
They say siblings need time and space to grow, but here’s one that really needs some room. A newborn star in the Orion Nebula is clearing a bubble of space around it, preventing any new luminous family members from forming nearby.
Clues to Life’s Building Blocks
Radiation from stars is making organic molecules in nebula NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula, larger and more complex. The growth of these molecules is one of the steps that could lead to the emergence of life under the right circumstances.
SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that allows astronomers to study the solar system and beyond in ways that are not possible with ground-based telescopes. Find out more about the mission at www.nasa.gov/SOFIA.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
10 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World’s Largest Flying Observatory
On the night of May 26, 2010, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, the world’s largest flying observatory, first peered into the cosmos. Its mission: to study celestial objects and astronomical phenomena with infrared light. Many objects in space emit almost all their energy at infrared wavelengths. Often, they are invisible when observed in ordinary, visible light. Over the last decade, the aircraft’s 106-inch telescope has been used to study black holes, planets, galaxies, star-forming nebulas and more! The observations have led to major breakthroughs in astronomy, revolutionizing our understanding of the solar system and beyond. To celebrate its 10 years of exploration, here’s a look at the top 10 discoveries made by our telescope on a plane:
The Universe’s First Type of Molecule
Scientists believe that around 100,000 years after the big bang, helium and hydrogen combined to make a molecule called helium hydride. Its recent discovery confirms a key part of our basic understanding of the early universe.
A New View of the Milky Way
More than a pretty picture, this panorama of cosmic scale reveals details that can help explain how massive stars are born and what’s feeding our Milky Way galaxy’s supermassive black hole.
When Planets Collide
A double-star system that is more than 300 light-years away likely had an extreme collision between two of its rocky planets. A similar event in our own solar system may have formed our Moon.
How A Black Hole Feasts
Fear not, the dark, my friend. And let the feast begin! Magnetic fields in the Cygnus A galaxy are trapping material where it is close enough to be devoured by a hungry black hole.
Somewhere Like Home
The planetary system around Epsilon Eridani, a star located about 10 light-years away, has an architecture remarkably similar to our solar system. What’s more, its central star is a younger, fainter version of our Sun.
A Quiet Place
Black holes in many galaxies are actively consuming material, but our Milky Way galaxy’s central black hole is relatively quiet. Observations show magnetic fields may be directing material around, not into, the belly of the beast.
The Great Escape
Ever wonder how material leaves a galaxy? The wind flowing from the center of the Cigar Galaxy is so strong it’s pulling a magnetic field — and the mass of 50 to 60 million Suns — with it.
Exploding Star, New Worlds
What happens when a star goes boom? It turns out that supernova explosions can produce a substantial amount of material from which planets like Earth can form.
Stellar Sibling Rivalry
They say siblings need time and space to grow, but here’s one that really needs some room. A newborn star in the Orion Nebula is clearing a bubble of space around it, preventing any new luminous family members from forming nearby.
Clues to Life’s Building Blocks
Radiation from stars is making organic molecules in nebula NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula, larger and more complex. The growth of these molecules is one of the steps that could lead to the emergence of life under the right circumstances.
SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that allows astronomers to study the solar system and beyond in ways that are not possible with ground-based telescopes. Find out more about the mission at www.nasa.gov/SOFIA.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Rings Around the Ring Nebula
Black holes found to exert a pressure on their environment
Physicists at the University of Sussex have discovered that black holes exert a pressure on their environment, in a scientific first.
In 1974 Stephen Hawking made the seminal discovery that black holes emit thermal radiation. Previous to that, black holes were believed to be inert, the final stages of a dying heavy star.
The University of Sussex scientists have shown that they are in fact even more complex thermodynamic systems, with not only a temperature but also a pressure.
The serendipitous discovery was made by Professor Xavier Calmet and Folkert Kuipers in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex, and is published today in Physical Review D.
Calmet and Kuipers were perplexed by an extra figure that was presenting in equations that they were running on quantum gravitational corrections to the entropy of a black hole.
During a discussion on this curious result on Christmas Day 2020, the realization that what they were seeing was behaving as a pressure dawned. Following further calculations they confirmed their exciting finding that quantum gravity can lead to a pressure in black holes.
Xavier Calmet, Professor of Physics at the University of Sussex, said: “Our finding that Schwarzschild black holes have a pressure as well as a temperature is even more exciting given that it was a total surprise. I’m delighted that the research that we are undertaking at the University of Sussex into quantum gravity has furthered the scientific communities’ wider understanding of the nature of black holes.
"Hawking’s landmark intuition that black holes are not black but have a radiation spectrum that is very similar to that of a black body makes black holes an ideal laboratory to investigate the interplay between quantum mechanics, gravity and thermodynamics.
"If you consider black holes within only general relativity, one can show that they have a singularity in their centers where the laws of physics as we know them must breakdown. It is hoped that when quantum field theory is incorporated into general relativity, we might be able to find a new description of black holes.
"Our work is a step in this direction, and although the pressure exerted by the black hole that we were studying is tiny, the fact that it is present opens up multiple new possibilities, spanning the study of astrophysics, particle physics and quantum physics.”
Folkert Kuipers, doctoral researcher in the school of Mathematical and Physical Science at the University of Sussex, said: “It is exciting to work on a discovery that furthers our understanding of black holes—especially as a research student.
"The pin-drop moment when we realized that the mystery result in our equations was telling us that the black hole we were studying had a pressure—after months of grappling with it—was exhilarating.
"Our result is a consequence of the cutting-edge research that we are undertaking into quantum physics at the University of Sussex and it shines a new light on the quantum nature of black holes.”’
10 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World’s Largest Flying Observatory
On the night of May 26, 2010, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, the world’s largest flying observatory, first peered into the cosmos. Its mission: to study celestial objects and astronomical phenomena with infrared light. Many objects in space emit almost all their energy at infrared wavelengths. Often, they are invisible when observed in ordinary, visible light. Over the last decade, the aircraft’s 106-inch telescope has been used to study black holes, planets, galaxies, star-forming nebulas and more! The observations have led to major breakthroughs in astronomy, revolutionizing our understanding of the solar system and beyond. To celebrate its 10 years of exploration, here’s a look at the top 10 discoveries made by our telescope on a plane:
The Universe’s First Type of Molecule
Scientists believe that around 100,000 years after the big bang, helium and hydrogen combined to make a molecule called helium hydride. Its recent discovery confirms a key part of our basic understanding of the early universe.
A New View of the Milky Way
More than a pretty picture, this panorama of cosmic scale reveals details that can help explain how massive stars are born and what’s feeding our Milky Way galaxy’s supermassive black hole.
When Planets Collide
A double-star system that is more than 300 light-years away likely had an extreme collision between two of its rocky planets. A similar event in our own solar system may have formed our Moon.
How A Black Hole Feasts
Fear not, the dark, my friend. And let the feast begin! Magnetic fields in the Cygnus A galaxy are trapping material where it is close enough to be devoured by a hungry black hole.
Somewhere Like Home
The planetary system around Epsilon Eridani, a star located about 10 light-years away, has an architecture remarkably similar to our solar system. What’s more, its central star is a younger, fainter version of our Sun.
A Quiet Place
Black holes in many galaxies are actively consuming material, but our Milky Way galaxy’s central black hole is relatively quiet. Observations show magnetic fields may be directing material around, not into, the belly of the beast.
The Great Escape
Ever wonder how material leaves a galaxy? The wind flowing from the center of the Cigar Galaxy is so strong it’s pulling a magnetic field — and the mass of 50 to 60 million Suns — with it.
Exploding Star, New Worlds
What happens when a star goes boom? It turns out that supernova explosions can produce a substantial amount of material from which planets like Earth can form.
Stellar Sibling Rivalry
They say siblings need time and space to grow, but here’s one that really needs some room. A newborn star in the Orion Nebula is clearing a bubble of space around it, preventing any new luminous family members from forming nearby.
Clues to Life’s Building Blocks
Radiation from stars is making organic molecules in nebula NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula, larger and more complex. The growth of these molecules is one of the steps that could lead to the emergence of life under the right circumstances.
SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that allows astronomers to study the solar system and beyond in ways that are not possible with ground-based telescopes. Find out more about the mission at www.nasa.gov/SOFIA.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Rings Around the Ring Nebula
Rings Around the Ring Nebula
Saturn at night
Black holes found to exert a pressure on their environment
Physicists at the University of Sussex have discovered that black holes exert a pressure on their environment, in a scientific first.
In 1974 Stephen Hawking made the seminal discovery that black holes emit thermal radiation. Previous to that, black holes were believed to be inert, the final stages of a dying heavy star.
The University of Sussex scientists have shown that they are in fact even more complex thermodynamic systems, with not only a temperature but also a pressure.
The serendipitous discovery was made by Professor Xavier Calmet and Folkert Kuipers in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex, and is published today in Physical Review D.
Calmet and Kuipers were perplexed by an extra figure that was presenting in equations that they were running on quantum gravitational corrections to the entropy of a black hole.
During a discussion on this curious result on Christmas Day 2020, the realization that what they were seeing was behaving as a pressure dawned. Following further calculations they confirmed their exciting finding that quantum gravity can lead to a pressure in black holes.
Xavier Calmet, Professor of Physics at the University of Sussex, said: “Our finding that Schwarzschild black holes have a pressure as well as a temperature is even more exciting given that it was a total surprise. I’m delighted that the research that we are undertaking at the University of Sussex into quantum gravity has furthered the scientific communities’ wider understanding of the nature of black holes.
"Hawking’s landmark intuition that black holes are not black but have a radiation spectrum that is very similar to that of a black body makes black holes an ideal laboratory to investigate the interplay between quantum mechanics, gravity and thermodynamics.
"If you consider black holes within only general relativity, one can show that they have a singularity in their centers where the laws of physics as we know them must breakdown. It is hoped that when quantum field theory is incorporated into general relativity, we might be able to find a new description of black holes.
"Our work is a step in this direction, and although the pressure exerted by the black hole that we were studying is tiny, the fact that it is present opens up multiple new possibilities, spanning the study of astrophysics, particle physics and quantum physics.”
Folkert Kuipers, doctoral researcher in the school of Mathematical and Physical Science at the University of Sussex, said: “It is exciting to work on a discovery that furthers our understanding of black holes—especially as a research student.
"The pin-drop moment when we realized that the mystery result in our equations was telling us that the black hole we were studying had a pressure—after months of grappling with it—was exhilarating.
"Our result is a consequence of the cutting-edge research that we are undertaking into quantum physics at the University of Sussex and it shines a new light on the quantum nature of black holes.”’
Black holes found to exert a pressure on their environment
Physicists at the University of Sussex have discovered that black holes exert a pressure on their environment, in a scientific first.
In 1974 Stephen Hawking made the seminal discovery that black holes emit thermal radiation. Previous to that, black holes were believed to be inert, the final stages of a dying heavy star.
The University of Sussex scientists have shown that they are in fact even more complex thermodynamic systems, with not only a temperature but also a pressure.
The serendipitous discovery was made by Professor Xavier Calmet and Folkert Kuipers in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex, and is published today in Physical Review D.
Calmet and Kuipers were perplexed by an extra figure that was presenting in equations that they were running on quantum gravitational corrections to the entropy of a black hole.
During a discussion on this curious result on Christmas Day 2020, the realization that what they were seeing was behaving as a pressure dawned. Following further calculations they confirmed their exciting finding that quantum gravity can lead to a pressure in black holes.
Xavier Calmet, Professor of Physics at the University of Sussex, said: “Our finding that Schwarzschild black holes have a pressure as well as a temperature is even more exciting given that it was a total surprise. I’m delighted that the research that we are undertaking at the University of Sussex into quantum gravity has furthered the scientific communities’ wider understanding of the nature of black holes.
"Hawking’s landmark intuition that black holes are not black but have a radiation spectrum that is very similar to that of a black body makes black holes an ideal laboratory to investigate the interplay between quantum mechanics, gravity and thermodynamics.
"If you consider black holes within only general relativity, one can show that they have a singularity in their centers where the laws of physics as we know them must breakdown. It is hoped that when quantum field theory is incorporated into general relativity, we might be able to find a new description of black holes.
"Our work is a step in this direction, and although the pressure exerted by the black hole that we were studying is tiny, the fact that it is present opens up multiple new possibilities, spanning the study of astrophysics, particle physics and quantum physics.”
Folkert Kuipers, doctoral researcher in the school of Mathematical and Physical Science at the University of Sussex, said: “It is exciting to work on a discovery that furthers our understanding of black holes—especially as a research student.
"The pin-drop moment when we realized that the mystery result in our equations was telling us that the black hole we were studying had a pressure—after months of grappling with it—was exhilarating.
"Our result is a consequence of the cutting-edge research that we are undertaking into quantum physics at the University of Sussex and it shines a new light on the quantum nature of black holes.”’
A Spiral Aurora over Iceland
![[REDACTED] If You Agree](https://64.media.tumblr.com/60337fefe3ddd0b85bbdcf5b82db4345/4f2d498776b995c0-b6/s400x600/e0b9b79749e814b6e3cc91d5830780175f535604.jpg)
[REDACTED] if you agree
Imagine being this beautiful:
They are the sh*t, and they know it.
FAMOUS BLACK HOLE HAS JET PUSHING COSMIC SPEED LIMIT
Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have seen that the famous giant black hole in Messier 87 is propelling particles at speeds greater than 99% of the speed of light.
The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration released the first image of a black hole with observations of the massive, dark object at the center of Messier 87, or M87, last April. This black hole has a mass of about 6.5 billion times that of the Sun and is located about 55 million light-years from Earth. The black hole has been called M87* by astronomers and has recently been given the Hawaiian name of “Powehi.”
For years, astronomers have observed radiation from a jet of high energy particles – powered by the black hole – blasting out of the center of M87. They have studied the jet in radio, optical, and X-ray light, including with Chandra. And now by using Chandra observations, researchers have seen that sections of the jet are moving at nearly the speed of light.
“This is the first time such extreme speeds by a black hole’s jet have been recorded using X-ray data,” said Ralph Kraft of the Center of Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) in Cambridge, Mass., who presented the study at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. “We needed the sharp X-ray vision of Chandra to make these measurements.”
When matter gets close enough to a black hole, it enters into a swirling pattern called an accretion disk. Some material from the inner part of the accretion disk falls onto the black hole and some of it is redirected away from the black hole in the form of narrow beams, or jets, of material along magnetic field lines. Because this infall process is irregular, the jets are made of clumps or knots that can sometimes be identified with Chandra and other telescopes
The researchers used Chandra observations from 2012 and 2017 to track the motion of two X-ray knots located within the jet about 900 and 2,500 light-years away from the black hole. The X-ray data show motion with apparent speeds of 6.3 times the speed of light for the X-ray knot closer to the black hole and 2.4 times the speed of light for the other.
“One of the unbreakable laws of physics is that nothing can move faster than the speed of light,” said co-author Brad Snios, also of the CfA. “We haven’t broken physics, but we have found an example of an amazing phenomenon called superluminal motion.”
Superluminal motion occurs when objects are traveling close to the speed of light along a direction that is close to our line of sight. The jet travels almost as quickly towards us as the light it generates, giving the illusion that the jet’s motion is much more rapid than the speed of light. In the case of M87*, the jet is pointing close to our direction, resulting in these exotic apparent speeds.
Astronomers have previously seen such motion in M87*’s jet at radio and optical wavelengths, but they have not been able to definitively show that matter in the jet is moving at very close to the speed of light. For example, the moving features could be a wave or a shock, similar to a sonic boom from a supersonic plane, rather than tracing the motions of matter.
This latest result shows the ability of X-rays to act as an accurate cosmic speed gun. The team observed that the feature moving with an apparent speed of 6.3 times the speed of light also faded by over 70% between 2012 and 2017. This fading was likely caused by particles’ loss of energy due to the radiation produced as they spiral around a magnetic field. For this to occur the team must be seeing X-rays from the same particles at both times, and not a moving wave.
“Our work gives the strongest evidence yet that particles in M87*’s jet are actually traveling at close to the cosmic speed limit,” said Snios.
The Chandra data are an excellent complement to the EHT data. The size of the ring around the black hole seen with the Event Horizon Telescope is about a hundred million times smaller than the size of the jet seen with Chandra.
Another difference is that the EHT observed M87 over six days in April 2017, giving a recent snapshot of the black hole. The Chandra observations investigate ejected material within the jet that was launched from the black hole hundreds and thousands of years earlier.
“It’s like the Event Horizon Telescope is giving a close-up view of a rocket launcher,” said the CfA’s Paul Nulsen, another co-author of the study, “and Chandra is showing us the rockets in flight.”
TOP IMAGE….These images show evidence from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory that the black hole in the galaxy Messier 87 (M87) is blasting particles out at over 99% the speed of light.
CENTRE IMAGE….The researchers carefully studied this knot, and another one about 2,500 light years along the jet. By comparing how far these knots moved over the five-year interval, the team of astronomers was able to determine the closer knot has an apparent speed of 6.3 times the speed of light for the X-ray knot, while the other looks like it is moving at 2.4 times the speed of light.
LOWER IMAGE….This is an example of superluminal motion, which occurs when objects are traveling close to the speed of light along a direction that is close to Earth’s line of sight. The jet travels almost as quickly towards us as the light it generates, giving the illusion that the jet’s motion is much more rapid than the speed of light. In the case of M87, the jet is pointing close to our direction, resulting in these exotic apparent speeds.
BOTTOM IMAGE….Chandra Wide-field View of M87; box shows the approximate location of the wide-field jet image above (Credit: NASA/CXC).
NASA Data Sonification: Black Hole Remix
In this sonification of Perseus. the sound waves astronomers previously identified were extracted and made audible for the first time. The sound waves were extracted outward from the center. (source)
This is very cool and a pretty big deal. Find out why.