Vanishing Gas Confirms Black Hole Event Horizons

space.com ^ | 01/09/06 | Ker Than

[KevinDavis]

Washington, DC—A type of X-ray explosion found on neutron stars does not occur near black holes, scientists announced here today. The lack of explosions is strong evidence for the existence of a black hole event horizon, a theoretical boundary into which matter vanishes and cannot escape.

The explosions are brief thermonuclear eruptions called type I X-ray bursts and last about one minute. The bursts occur every several hours on the surface of very small, dense stars called neutron stars. They are fueled by gas that a neutron star siphons off a companion star.

The gas accumulates on the neutron star's surface and when enough builds up, the gas erupts in an X-ray burst.

Scientists examined neutron stars and black holes detected by NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer during the past nine years. They found X-ray bursts from 13 sources believed to be neutron stars, but none from 18 suspected black holes.

"By looking at objects that pull in gas, we can infer whether that gas crashes and accumulates onto a hard surface or just quietly vanishes," said study leader Ron Remillard, an astronomer at MIT's Kavli Institute. "For the group of suspected black holes we studied, there is a complete absence of X-ray bursts. The gas that would fuel such bursts appears to vanish."

[KevinDavis]

[I see my hands]

Some believe the absence of thermonuclear eruptions near black holes is related to an abundance of the sub atomic particle bean-o.

[rbg81]

Maybe someone could create miniature black holes that you could activate in your bathroom to suck up those unsightly odors. Or better yet, maybe you could have one suddenly appear in the vicinity of your least favorite dicator. Kim Bong Ill and Iran's Mahmoud come to mind.

[Aetius]

Interesting

[Tinman73]

I sure would like to get a gravimeter close to one of these puppies !

Has anyone ever tied in the "Missing Mass" problem of the universe to black holes yet ? If not, I do.
Black Holes are the answer to universal dynamics (think of the big, big picture).

Or in small terms, think of them as the Tornado's of the void `:)

[willgolfforfood]

I'm accumlating a little gas myself...

[jaguaretype]

Harry Reid is dispensing gas ..... doesn't seem to vanish though thanks to the LSM.

[punster]

Proof: Black holes suck.

[SunkenCiv]

Meet the Indian who took on Stephen Hawking
Rediff.com | August 03, 2004 10:06 IST | Rediff.com
Posted on 08/02/2004 10:16:56 PM PDT by CarrotAndStick
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1183887/posts