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MRB_Doom

New telescope to illuminate black holes

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You know, if there were black holes heading toward Earth that could potentially destroy us in our life time; I would not want to know about it. Our impending doom by instantaneous crushing pressure is not something I would like to add to my list of things to worry about.

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Fortunately, black holes (and anything else with at least the mass of stars) don't go zipping around randomly. It's the rogue rocks you have to worry about.

Plane-launched rockets are neat. I thought they were less common for some reason. I suppose most satellite launches don't get much press.

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Vulture said:

You know, if there were black holes heading toward Earth that could potentially destroy us in our life time; I would not want to know about it. Our impending doom by instantaneous crushing pressure is not something I would like to add to my list of things to worry about.


They aren't searching for black holes; they're studying the ones they've found. Also there are no black holes anywhere near us.

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Actually some fringe scientists suggest that a rogue low-mass black hole (as far as black hole masses go, anyway) in a large eccentric orbit around our Sun could be responsible for the periodic mass extinctions observed in geological history on a nearly constant clock via gravitational perturbance of the various solar system asteroid belts and clouds - however, there's virtually no confirmable or falsifiable evidence for/against this hypothesis, so it's not taken very seriously and tends to fall victim to Occam's Razor.

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Vulture said:

Our impending doom by instantaneous crushing pressure is not something I would like to add to my list of things to worry about.

If a rogue black hole was indeed heading towards earth, then the earth, the sun and everything that encompasses our solar system would be tossed out of orbit and flung out into oblivion. Our destiny would not be the singularity, but a rather quick frigid death.

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Vulture said:

You know, if there were black holes heading toward Earth that could potentially destroy us in our life time; I would not want to know about it. Our impending doom by instantaneous crushing pressure is not something I would like to add to my list of things to worry about.

Cosmic death is probably the one way of going that would not cause me stress. I can't think of a better way to go.

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Quasar said:

Actually some fringe scientists suggest that a rogue low-mass black hole (as far as black hole masses go, anyway) in a large eccentric orbit around our Sun could be responsible for the periodic mass extinctions observed in geological history on a nearly constant clock via gravitational perturbance of the various solar system asteroid belts and clouds - however, there's virtually no confirmable or falsifiable evidence for/against this hypothesis, so it's not taken very seriously and tends to fall victim to Occam's Razor.

Never heard about this before, but it just sounds like the Nemesis hypothesis reworked since there's no evidence of a nearby red/brown dwarf that could be the cause.

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Dragonsbrethren said:

Never heard about this before, but it just sounds like the Nemesis hypothesis reworked since there's no evidence of a nearby red/brown dwarf that could be the cause.


Basically. No need to worry about getting dying to stringification from a rogue black hole. Its gravity signature would screw up everything slowly as it came nearby.

Cool study though, I read a bunch about it in a recent Sky & Telescope magazine issue.

Hellbent said:

Cosmic death is probably the one way of going that would not cause me stress. I can't think of a better way to go.


Nah, most of them suck. Such as an impact that kills off half the ecosystem and gives everyone a slow death of starvation. Or a solar flare wiping away atmospheres so the planet rapidly heats up over 10~ years and everyone burns to death.

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Hellbent said:

Cosmic death is probably the one way of going that would not cause me stress. I can't think of a better way to go.


Interesting sentiment. Personally I like the idea that the world will continue to turn even after I'm dead, but I guess there could be some small comfort in knowing exactly how humanity's story ends.

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Creaphis said:

Interesting sentiment. Personally I like the idea that the world will continue to turn even after I'm dead, but I guess there could be some small comfort in knowing exactly how humanity's story ends.

I'd love it if the world would end by cosmic intervention; it'll troll the rapture idiots good.

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Technician said:

I'd love it if the world would end by cosmic intervention; it'll troll the rapture idiots good.


Hell I want inter dimensional intervention, aka the ultimate showdown. That's how I want to end. YES.

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GreyGhost said:

How do you go about illuminating something that swallows visible light?

Black holes have huge accretion disks that generate x-rays and also radiate huge plumes of x-rays out of its north and south poles and that is what this telescope is looking for.

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Quast said:

Black holes have huge accretion disks that generate x-rays and also radiate huge plumes of x-rays out of its north and south poles and that is what this telescope is looking for.


This is accurate. They look for the particles around it that get kicked up and spit "out" just before they reach the event horizon.

Basically, the enormous energy caused by things being brought to near-lightspeeds and causing friction with eachother.

More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar

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The news anchor in this video is a fucking moron and doesn't appear to have a clue as to what he's reporting. However, this is a very exciting development and gives me a space boner.

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GoatLord said:

The news anchor in this video is a fucking moron and doesn't appear to have a clue as to what he's reporting. However, this is a very exciting development and gives me a space boner.


I read the headlines on cnn.com every day and happened to find the story, but yeah, a turd could explain the event in question better.

A step forward towards the other side. More power to NASA.

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This is pretty cool! It would be cool to see some pictures of that black hole.

I was always interested in space and all the things you can find in them like planets, stars, back holes and all

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Radon said:

I have a black hole NASA can investigate with their "telescope"...


First post in 3 days. I can see why such a well thought out post could take so long to develop.

/clap

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Well it seems I have a fan. Do you want my signature on her tits or on your forehead?

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eargosedown said:

I love black holes.

I hate black holes! There's one in the backyard that keeps pulling socks of the clothesline. It was annoying enough when the dog did that, but at least I stood a fair chance of getting the socks back. Looking on the bright side - it's been a week since my sleep was last disturbed by the sound of cats fighting.

Ooops, there goes the acacia. Look on the bright side - that gives us a better view down-river.


Anyone here want to buy a house?

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