Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The First Sighting of a Black Hole
Air and Space Magazine ^ | January, 2017 | Matthew R. Francis

Posted on 01/19/2017 4:07:03 PM PST by MtnClimber

We know one lurks at the center of the Milky Way, but to these astronomers, seeing will be believing.

The center of the galaxy doesn’t look like much, even if you’re lucky enough to live in a place where the night sky is sufficiently dark to see the bands of the Milky Way. In visible light, the stars between here and there blur together into a single brilliant source, like a bright beam hiding the lighthouse behind it.

But in other types of radiation—radio waves, infrared, X-rays—astronomers have detected the presence of an object with the mass of four million suns packed into a region smaller than our solar system: a supermassive black hole.

Astronomers call it Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* (pronounced “sadge A star”) for short, because it’s located (from our point of view) in the Sagittarius constellation. Discovering the Milky Way’s black hole has helped cement the idea that the center of nearly every large galaxy harbors a supermassive black hole. But despite mounting evidence for black holes, we still haven’t seen one directly.

That may change very soon. Astronomers are about to begin an observing project that may result in what was once thought impossible: a picture of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

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


TOPICS: Astronomy
KEYWORDS: blackhole
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-32 last
To: DuncanWaring

Maybe, a Blasshole.


21 posted on 01/19/2017 4:44:25 PM PST by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Interesting article.


22 posted on 01/19/2017 4:47:16 PM PST by samtheman (delete * from executive orders where author=obama)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: T-Bone Texan

They should get a real image in April and it may be similar to the concept.


23 posted on 01/19/2017 4:51:17 PM PST by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

That would be Moochelle’s vacation budget.


24 posted on 01/19/2017 4:54:16 PM PST by Organic Panic (Rich White Man Evicts Poor Black Family From Public Housing - MSNBCPBSCNNNYTABC)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
Good article.

But the most ambitious project focused on the galactic center is the Event Horizon Telescope, an enormous interferometer made from a dozen observatories stretching from Hawaii to the South Pole. The goal, when it comes online this spring, is to capture an image of Sgr A* with enough resolution to see the event horizon itself.

If they verify the event horizon, it's definitely a black hole.

25 posted on 01/19/2017 5:11:58 PM PST by TChad (Propagandists should not be treated like journalists.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Proyecto Anonimo

“Pew pew pew!”


26 posted on 01/19/2017 5:14:10 PM PST by Rastus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
I did the same project for far less money using a homemade telescope and my iPhone.

Pic below:


27 posted on 01/19/2017 5:31:12 PM PST by fruser1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

I have a weird infatuation with Andrea Ghez . . .


28 posted on 01/19/2017 5:43:30 PM PST by BraveMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TChad

Will look forward to observations from the Event Horizon Telescope!


29 posted on 01/19/2017 5:59:34 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Wow, an astronomy / black hole thread without mention of the planet U-——.


30 posted on 01/19/2017 6:36:16 PM PST by buckalfa (I am deplorable.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: buckalfa
Wow, an astronomy / black hole thread without mention of the planet U-

I can fix that. I will mention the planet Ubama.

31 posted on 01/19/2017 6:38:54 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: DuncanWaring
He's from Hawaii, and he's half-white, so he's a Black Haole

Well, maybe, in 2017 terms. I understand that today, it is a term of derision from Hawaiians about Caucasians. But it wasn't always that way. My uncle Burt, originally from Michigan, stayed in the Islands after his one enlistment in the Navy. He married a rich young woman who was half Hawaiian and half white; and lived on the Big Island (Hawaii). He told me that Haole meant a white man that had lived there a long time, and had acquired some kind of success. Their distinguishing uniform included a hat with a pheasant feather hatband. My Michigander father quickly adopted this custom, using feathers from pheasants he hunted every year. I've adopted the custom as well, now that thinning hair has forced me to wear a proper hat to "nice" places, like formal dinners, graduations and church services. So, to call the soon to be former president (may his name live in infamy) a Haole, is a misnomer, IMHO.

32 posted on 01/19/2017 7:34:09 PM PST by Ace's Dad ("America is Great because America is Good " Alexis de Tocqueville)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-32 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson