Friday, November 18, 2011

Black Holes

A black hole is a region of space from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a very compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is an undetectable surface called an event horizon that marks the point of no return. It is called "black" because it absorbs all the light that hits the horizon, reflecting nothing, just like a perfect black body in thermodynamics. Quantum mechanics predicts that black holes also emit radiation like a black body with a finite temperature. This temperature is inversely proportional to the mass of the black hole, making it difficult to observe this radiation for black holes of stellar mass.

As reported on the Mother Nature Network Black holes are considered amongst the most powerful and mysterious objects in the universe, what is left behind after a star has collapsed. NASA has compiled several dramatic images of what are believed to be black holes in space.


Click the link on top of the post to see even more incredible images.




Formation of a Black Hole

NASA recently announced that for the first time, a black hole was seen being “born” out of an exploding star in a neighboring galaxy. NASA is excited because it now knows the precise “birth date” of a black hole, allowing experts to study it as never before.




Supermassive Black Hole

This is a Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the nearby galaxy Centaurus A. This image is believed to show the effects of a supermassive black hole within the galaxy.




Double black holes

Another Chandra image shows the galaxy M82, which has “two bright X-ray sources” of interest. NASA believes these points may be the starting points for two intermediate or supermassive black holes.




Black Holes combining

NASA believes these two black holes are spiralling toward each other and have been doing so for 30 years. NASA thinks they will eventually become one big black hole.




Effects of a black hole

A black hole-powered stream of electrons barrels out of the M87 galaxy into space.

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