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What would you see in a black hole?
BBC ^ | Marcus Woo

Posted on 05/05/2015 8:02:12 AM PDT by BenLurkin

A lone black hole is, unsurprisingly, black.

For a more dramatic view, though, zip on over to the Milky Way's centre, the home of a supermassive black hole nearly four million times more massive than the Sun. The black hole's gravity has gathered lots of gas and dust, which has accumulated into a disc that's spiralling into the hole – circling the drain, so to speak. As the material gets consumed, friction heats it up to billions of degrees, producing lots of radiation, and outflows of energy and charged particles.

The hot disc would be quite a sight. As for the black hole itself, you wouldn't be able to see it directly, as it's enshrouded in gas and dust. But, you can see how the black hole's gravity bends and warps rays of light around it, creating a visual imprint in the surrounding material called the black hole's shadow. The gravity warps the image of the shadow itself, making it appear about five times bigger than the black hole.

Normally, we think of light travelling in straight beams – photons zooming inexorably forward. But near a black hole, the powerful gravity tugs on photons, swinging them around the hole into orbits. Some of those photons manage to escape and reach your eyes (or telescope), and what you'd see is a bright ring bordering the shadow.

Meanwhile, the inner part of the disc of material swirls around the black hole at speeds approaching that of light. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, a light source will appear brighter if it's hurtling toward you. If you're looking at the black hole such that the disc is somewhat edge-on, the part of the disc that's moving toward you will glow much brighter, producing a bright crescent on that side of the black hole.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: blackhole
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1 posted on 05/05/2015 8:02:12 AM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

In before the “That’s Racist” Boy meme/gif.


2 posted on 05/05/2015 8:03:15 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (With Great Freedom comes Great Responsibility.)
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To: BenLurkin
My favorite hole:


3 posted on 05/05/2015 8:05:18 AM PDT by Gamecock (Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once, and He volunteered. R.C. Sproul)
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To: BenLurkin

4 posted on 05/05/2015 8:06:15 AM PDT by bigbob (The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly. Abraham Lincoln)
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To: Responsibility2nd

A CVS on fire.


5 posted on 05/05/2015 8:06:18 AM PDT by Rodamala
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To: BenLurkin

You wouldn’t “see” anything. You’d be dead. But if could be alive by a miracle I’m guessing more black hole.


6 posted on 05/05/2015 8:06:32 AM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: BenLurkin

“Hey, it’s awfully dark in this black hole. Anybody remember to bring a flashlight?”


7 posted on 05/05/2015 8:10:51 AM PDT by Perseverando (For Progressives, Islamonazis & Totalitarians: It's all about PEOPLE CONTROL!)
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To: Perseverando

“Help me find my keys and we can drive out of here.”


8 posted on 05/05/2015 8:11:19 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

9 posted on 05/05/2015 8:12:51 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: jsanders2001; Salamander; TheOldLady
"You wouldn’t “see” anything. You’d be dead. But if could be alive by a miracle I’m guessing more black hole."

No, you'd be seeing less and less Black Hole, as the immense gravitational pull would be causing contraction faster than accretion.

So Black Holes actually become smaller and smaller until they cannot sustain any more stuff being stuffed into them and then they explode into new universes that rush away from their centers, where the Black Hole used to be.

Deep, Huh?

(And very late at night, they go on the Art Bell show and impersonate Mel's Hole.)

10 posted on 05/05/2015 8:14:46 AM PDT by shibumi ("Walk Through the Fire, Fly Through the Smoke")
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To: BenLurkin

A lot of Democrats’, and many, many Repubs’ heads.


11 posted on 05/05/2015 8:16:32 AM PDT by Scrambler Bob (an icon of resistance within the oppressed patriots, who represent resilience in the face of SSV)
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To: BenLurkin

12 posted on 05/05/2015 8:16:49 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: BenLurkin
These two, of course.
13 posted on 05/05/2015 8:19:31 AM PDT by AnAmericanAbroad (It's all bread and circuses for the future prey of the Morlocks.)
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To: BenLurkin

Obama, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, Duval Patrick, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson.....


14 posted on 05/05/2015 8:20:10 AM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation (The so-called Southern Poverty Law Center is a hate group.)
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To: BenLurkin

You would see the MST3K gang still trying to figure out if there is any discernible plot to “Intersteller”.


15 posted on 05/05/2015 8:25:36 AM PDT by circlecity
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To: BenLurkin
Into The Void
16 posted on 05/05/2015 8:25:52 AM PDT by ßuddaßudd (>> F U B O << "What the hell kind of country is this if I can only hate a man if he's white?")
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To: BenLurkin

Baltimore?


17 posted on 05/05/2015 8:26:15 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232 ((VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!))
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To: BenLurkin
What would you see in a black hole?

 photo 512x288-naked-gun_zpsxz4vu5w0.jpg

18 posted on 05/05/2015 8:29:03 AM PDT by dragonblustar (Philippians 2:10)
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To: BenLurkin

I won’t be sucked into answering this question..


19 posted on 05/05/2015 8:30:46 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: BenLurkin

.
Disc?

Not likely!

Black holes are, like everything else, 4 dimensional, so the disc has to be replaced with a sphere. Adios ring.
.


20 posted on 05/05/2015 8:32:43 AM PDT by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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