#blackholes

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San Francisco, 9:59 PM
Tue Feb 9
26 posts in the last 24 hours

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#spaceporn

The Parasitic Bond Of Intimacy Between A Black Hole And A Massive, Dying Star

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered the most distant black hole ever observed. Six million light years from Earth, it lies at the heart of a spiral galaxy, and is rapidly orbiting and eating a massive star. More »

02/03/10

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By Annalee Newitz

#entropy

Universal Heat Death Could Happen Sooner Than We Realized

According to researchers at Australian National University, the end of the universe will happen earlier than anyone previously thought. The mother of all deadlines is coming up! More »

01/30/10

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By Alex Eichler

Roklimber 01/30/10

Black Hole Hunters Set New Distance Record
[www.sciencedaily.com]

#tips #science #blackholes Reply

#spaceporn

The Black Hole At The Center Of Our Galaxy Is Wreathed In Stolen Starlight

Look at this new picture of Sagittarius A, the black hole at the center of our galaxy: It's alive with starlight. Sagittarius A eats much less stellar matter than a normal black hole, and this image provides a clue why. More »

01/08/10

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By Charlie Jane Anders

#blackholes

Ancient Black Holes Steered The Formation Of The Early Universe

Black holes aren't just cosmic destroyers or grim reminders of the final fate that awaits massive stars. They may have once had a more constructive purpose. New models suggest they were essential in the formation of the early universe. More »

01/08/10

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By Alasdair Wilkins

#spaceporn

When Stars Orbit Black Holes

A star, no bigger than our own sun, orbits a black hole, and every once in a while they get so close, the black hole starts siphoning off pieces of the star — creating an explosive particle blast. More »

12/18/09

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By Charlie Jane Anders

#darkmatter

Theoretical All-Quark Stars Might Be Able to Warp Matter Unto Themselves

Researchers are on the lookout for a new type of star, one composed of matter that behaves differently from the kind we're familiar with. If these stars exist, they could solve one of the biggest mysteries astrophysicists have confronted. More »

12/13/09

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By Alex Eichler

Roklimber 12/03/09

If you're interested in learning something about black holes in general and super-massive BHs in particular, and if you can stomach her annoying way of talking, Dr. Andrea Ghez ([en.wikipedia.org]) has a really interesting and informative TED talk on her hunt for a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

#tips #blackholes Reply

#megaengineering

The Wild Center Of Our Galaxy Could Support A Mega-Civilization

Could a super-advanced civilization live inside the acretion disk, the super-dense area around the black hole at the center of a galaxy? Author Mike Brotherton has played with this idea, and a couple of scientific papers say it's possible. More »

11/30/09

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By Charlie Jane Anders

#madscience

A Black Hole Engine That Could Power Spaceships

Artificially generated black holes could provide us with the power to make inter-solar travel a possibility. New research shows how strapping a black hole to your starship might just give you the juice to get to Alpha Centauri. More »

11/04/09

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By Tim Barribeau

#spaceporn

Two Black Holes Enter, One Black Hole Leaves!

The meeting of two black holes in the galaxy NGC 6240 started 30 million years ago, but the ending was known from the beginning: in the end, there can only be one super-massive black hole. [Chandra Observatory]

10/28/09

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By Charlie Jane Anders

#spaceporn

The Center Of The Milky Way Galaxy Shows The Birth And Death Of Suns

The center of our galaxy shines in greater detail than ever before, in this new composite image from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory. (Click to enlarge.) The whole gamut of stellar evolution is here, from bright young stars to black holes. More »

09/23/09

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By Charlie Jane Anders

#blackholes

Newly Discovered Black Hole Is Uniquely Average

Astronomers have discovered a black hole unlike any other previously discovered. Neither big enough to be a supermassive black hole, nor small enough to be the remnants of a collapsed star, its "average" size is a cosmic mystery. More »

07/05/09

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By Alasdair Wilkins

#spaceporn

What Makes Young Galaxies Stop Growing?

Eventually a galaxy has to grow up and settle down, and stop throwing superheated gas around all over the place. And now astrophysicists have figured out how the glowing "superblobs" around galaxies help to make this happen. More »

06/25/09

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By Charlie Jane Anders

#blackholes

What Would a Black Hole Really Look Like?

Black holes are mysterious cosmic structures partly because they radiate in regions of the spectrum invisible to the human eye. But artists still strive to depict their violent, intense lives. We've got a gallery. More »

02/11/09

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By Annalee Newitz

#madscience

Scientists Detect Mysterious Radio Signal from Beyond the Galaxy

01/09/09

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#spaceporn

Stars Flare Into Life Around A Massive Black Hole

Omega Centauri is one of the biggest star clusters orbiting our own galaxy, with the light of millions of stars blazing from it — including some visible with the naked eye. But those stars aren't all the same age, as this new image from the Spitzer Space Telescope shows. Combining visible and infrared images, this new composite shows a mixture of ancient stars (which are red) and younger stars, like our own sun (which are blue). And click through for new evidence that all those stars may be circling a massive black hole at Omega Centauri's core. More »

04/23/08

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By Charlie Jane Anders

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