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Big Pic: An Ultramassive Black Hole
Popular Science ^ | January 24, 2014 | Francie Diep

Posted on 01/26/2014 7:26:30 PM PST by SunkenCiv

One of the most powerful things in the universe wears a sparkly purple coat. Well, at least it looks that way in this image combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. This is an image of the galaxy cluster RX J1532.9+3021... At the cluster's center is one of the most powerful black holes astronomers have ever found. The black hole is surrounded by hot gas, which appears here in purple.

Normally, astronomers would expect dense, hot gas like this to form stars, but they haven't found any evidence of stars here. Instead, they think, the black hole has prevented stars from forming by keeping the gas hot where it would normally cool, drop in pressure, and pull in more gas to form trillions of stars.

The black hole is so powerful, it's created gaps in the gas surrounding it. NASA explains:

The X-ray image shows two large cavities in the hot gas on either side of the central galaxy. The Chandra image has been specially processed to emphasize the cavities. Both cavities are aligned with jets seen in radio images from the VLA [Very Large Array]. The location of the supermassive black hole between the cavities is strong evidence that the supersonic jets generated by the black hole have drilled into the hot gas and pushed it aside, forming the cavities.
Astronomers have found other black holes that formed similar cavities, but these are unusually large—about the size of the Milky Way galaxy.

This and other evidence suggest the black hole could be "ultramassive," instead of merely supermassive, and have a mass more than 10 billion times that of the sun. It could also be extremely massive and spinning slowly...

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


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; blackhole; haltonarp; milkyway; milkywaygalaxy
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J1532 X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford/J.Hlavacek-Larrondo et al, Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/M.Postman & CLASH team

Big Pic: An Ultramassive Black Hole

1 posted on 01/26/2014 7:26:30 PM PST by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; married21; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; ...

I thought this has appeared, couldn’t find it, so, here we go, extra to APoD.


2 posted on 01/26/2014 7:27:20 PM PST by SunkenCiv (;http://www.freerepublic.com/~mestamachine/)
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To: SunkenCiv
I don't see the black hole.

Hawking now says black holes don't exist.


3 posted on 01/26/2014 7:40:04 PM PST by DannyTN (A>)
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To: SunkenCiv

Thought I read that Stephen Hawking said black holes don’t exist?


4 posted on 01/26/2014 7:40:04 PM PST by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: SunkenCiv

“This and other evidence suggest the black hole could be “ultramassive,” instead of merely supermassive, and have a mass more than 10 billion times that of the sun.” That’s huge!


5 posted on 01/26/2014 7:40:20 PM PST by united1000 (United1000)
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To: nuconvert

Black holes are out of sight...


6 posted on 01/26/2014 7:43:28 PM PST by null and void (We need to shake this snowglobe up.)
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To: SunkenCiv

What collapsed to create a hole that big?
That is pretty awesome.


7 posted on 01/26/2014 7:43:53 PM PST by moose07 (the truth will out ,one day.)
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To: nuconvert

“Thought I read that Stephen Hawking said black holes don’t exist?”

Media morons do it again.

What he said was that event horizons probably don’t exist in the form he had previously thought.


8 posted on 01/26/2014 7:43:55 PM PST by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: dsc

Unfortunately, Hawkings don’t know fer sure either.


9 posted on 01/26/2014 7:46:03 PM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: SunkenCiv

Wickedly beautiful!
Thanks so much!


10 posted on 01/26/2014 7:47:55 PM PST by onyx (Please Support Free Republic - Donate Monthly! If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, Let Me know!)
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To: SunkenCiv
Ultramassive black hole....

Ultramassive a**hole....


11 posted on 01/26/2014 7:55:26 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
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To: dsc

But there is “consensus” so Stephen must be a Black Hole Event Horizon denier nut!


12 posted on 01/26/2014 7:59:04 PM PST by JaguarXKE (1973: Reporters investigate All the President's Men. 2013: Reporters ARE all the President's men)
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To: nuconvert

That’s because acknowledging that a black hole is black is considered racist.


13 posted on 01/26/2014 8:02:43 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; me = independent conservative)
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To: nuconvert

I suppose Stephen Hawking has never looked into the eyes of der obama and the vacuum between obama’s ears is the envy of black holes everywhere.


14 posted on 01/26/2014 8:11:05 PM PST by Whats-wrong-with-the-truth
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To: moose07
What collapsed to create a hole that big?

Dear Leader's Benghazi story.

15 posted on 01/26/2014 8:16:50 PM PST by Colonel_Flagg (Some people meet their heroes. I raised mine. Go Army.)
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To: Colonel_Flagg
Roflol.
Could be, stands to reason, two whoppers.
Every action having an equal and opposite &c
16 posted on 01/26/2014 8:26:51 PM PST by moose07 (the truth will out ,one day.)
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To: nuconvert

“Stephen Hawking now says light and information may be able to escape from black holes...”

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/01/26/stephen-hawking-contradicts-earlier-black-hole-claims/

He also said there is no God. Let’s see if as he gets closer to his own ‘event horizon’ that takes a turn in thought;)


17 posted on 01/26/2014 8:28:18 PM PST by Beowulf9
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To: SunkenCiv

Muse - Supermassive Black Hole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6okwg6PiSis


18 posted on 01/26/2014 8:32:06 PM PST by Nachum (Obamacare: It's. The. Flaw.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Somebody needs to put some signs up around that thing...

"That way be monsters!"

19 posted on 01/26/2014 9:19:11 PM PST by TigersEye (Stupid is a Progressive disease.)
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To: Texas Eagle

I think that second pic is actually an ultramassive A-hole.


20 posted on 01/26/2014 9:43:24 PM PST by Trod Upon (Every penny given to film and TV media companies goes right into enemy coffers. Starve them out!)
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