Clipmarks | Marcariel's 'black holes' clips

Supernova Seen Half Way Across the Universe

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:00:43 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: This is reported to be the brightest supernova explosion ever recorded. It was bright enough to be seen by the naked eye from half way across the universe.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

A powerful stellar explosion detected March 19 by NASA's Swift satellite has shattered the record for the most distant object that could be seen with the naked eye.

The explosion was a gamma ray burst. Most gamma ray bursts occur when massive stars run out of nuclear fuel. Their cores collapse to form black holes or neutron stars, releasing an intense burst of high-energy gamma rays and ejecting particle jets that rip through space at nearly the speed of light

Gamma ray bursts are the most luminous explosions in the universe since the big bang.

"This burst was a whopper,"

"It blows away every gamma ray burst we've seen so far."

This is more than halfway across the visible universe.

"No other known object or type of explosion could be seen by the naked eye at such an immense distance,"

"If someone just happened to be looking at the right place at the right time, they saw the most distant object ever seen by human eyes without optical aid."

the most luminous supernova ever recorded

Tags: supernova, explosion, gamma ray, luminous

Black Holes Are Everywhere!

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 19:25:45 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: So when do we all get swallowed up by a giant black hole? There is a black hole reportedly at the center of our own galaxy.

Clip Source: time-blog.com

The circled galaxies all contain giant black holes. / NASA/JPL-Caltech/ Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique

Theory says that most of the galaxies formed shortly after the Big Bang should have giant black holes lurking in their cores--but until now, astronomers haven't seen much evidence. You can't see a black hole directly, but when gas falls into its voraciously powerful gravitational field, the gas heats up and glows brilliantly. Except that so far, it hasn't, as far as observers could tell.

But it turns out that at least some black holes have been blazing all along; they were just shrouded by dust. It took the infrared-sensitive Spitzer Space Telescope to peer through the dust, and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (also in space) to find the telltale X-rays that betray the presence of super-hot gas that surrounds the black holes.

That's one mystery down. Luckily for science reporters, there are always more.

Tags: astronomy, black holes, galaxies, space dust, big bang

Google Sky Adds Multiwavelength Images of Universe

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 23:01:29 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

A massive project to map a distant region of the Universe in multiple wavelengths--from x-rays through ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and radio waves--is currently releasing its data to both fellow scientists and the general public. It is the first data release from the AEGIS survey and the first release of multiwavelength data to take advantage of the capabilities of Google Sky, a new feature of Google Earth.

AEGIS--the All-wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey--combines the efforts of nearly 100 researchers from around the world observing the same small region of sky in all available wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum.

"We are looking back to a time when the universe was more than half its current age and when galaxies were forming most of their stars,"

"With the X-ray images we are looking at black holes, which are at the centre of galaxies, to try to work out how the growth of black holes is linked to the growth of the galaxy itself."

Tags: google sky, multiwavelength, aegis, universe

Stephen Hawking - Bets on Black Hole Theory

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:25:17 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: Even though this article is from 2004, I found it fascinating that Stephen Hawking would admit he might be wrong. You never see very many scientists admitting their original theories could be flawed. But like he said, "I've been thinking about this problem for the last 30 years, and I think I now have the answer to it."

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

After almost 30 years of arguing that a black hole swallows up everything that falls into it, astrophysicist Stephen Hawking backpedaled

In doing so, he lost one of the most famous bets in recent scientific history.

I've been thinking about this problem for the last 30 years, and I think I now have the answer to it

"A black hole only appears to form but later opens up and releases information about what fell inside. So we can be sure of the past and predict the future."

Hawking has devoted most of his life to studying these questions.

If Hawking succeeds in making his case, he will lose a bet that he and theoretical physicist Kip Thorne of the California Institute of Technology made with John Preskill, also of Caltech.

The terms of the bet were that "information swallowed by a black hole is forever hidden and can never be revealed."

Preskill bet against that theory.

The forfeit is an encyclopedia, from which Preskill can recover information at will.

Tags: stephen hawking, black holes, physics, bet, kip thorne, john preskill