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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- The Diner at the Center of the Galaxy
NASA ^ | December 30, 2011 | (see photo credit)

Posted on 12/29/2011 9:54:25 PM PST by SunkenCiv

Explanation: The monster at the center of our Galaxy is about to get fed. Recent observations by the Very Large Telescopes indicate that a cloud of gas will venture too close to the supermassive black hole at the Galactic center. The gas cloud is being disrupted, stretched out, heated up, and some of it is expected to fall into the black hole over the next two years. In this artist's illustration, what remains of the blob after a close pass to the black hole is shown in red and yellow, arching out from the gravitational death trap to its right. The cloud's orbit is shown in red, while the orbits of central stars are shown in blue. The infalling nebula is estimated to contain several times the mass of our Earth, while the central black hole, thought to correspond to the radio source Sagittariaus A*, contains about four million times the mass of our Sun. Once it falls in, nothing is expected to be heard from the doomed gas ever again.

December 30, 2011

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; groj165540; marcschartmann; sagittariusa; science; stringtheory
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[Illustration Credit: ESO/MPE/Marc Schartmann]

1 posted on 12/29/2011 9:54:33 PM PST by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; married21; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; ...

2 posted on 12/29/2011 9:57:34 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Very cool. Thanks for posting, I love these pics.


3 posted on 12/29/2011 10:08:32 PM PST by GreatRoad (O < 0)
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To: AdmSmith; bvw; callisto; ckilmer; dandelion; ganeshpuri89; gobucks; KevinDavis; Las Vegas Dave; ...

Supermassive black hole, seems like a good pretext for a ping.


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4 posted on 12/29/2011 10:53:54 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: GreatRoad

My pleasure. I love insomnia. ;’)


5 posted on 12/29/2011 11:09:49 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: SunkenCiv
Nice little video link to the inferred orbits of the central stars from the above explanation HERE

They infer their orbits using an inferometer, right?

6 posted on 12/29/2011 11:12:01 PM PST by bigheadfred
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To: SunkenCiv
I love insomnia.

And misery loves company.

7 posted on 12/29/2011 11:13:33 PM PST by bigheadfred
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To: SunkenCiv

Two things, one is black holes don’t “suck in” anything. They have exactly the same mass as their components. Yes, gravity has compressed them to the point that at their surface light gets bent back in, but you can safely orbit a black hole with no trouble.

Second, for an astronomy article, this one misses a big point: This gas cloud had its encounter with the Milky Way singularity some 50,000 years ago. We’re just lucky in that we happen to be in a position technologically to see the sequence after the fact, since the photons that reflect this event are just now reaching us. /pedantic


8 posted on 12/29/2011 11:18:57 PM PST by Little Pig (Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.)
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To: Little Pig

Was thinking the same thing it’s already happened we’re just watching the movie now (darned late releases). The other thing I was surprised about is they didn’t mention the possibility of any X-ray type emissions which I’ve heard can occur when things are “gobbled”.


9 posted on 12/29/2011 11:26:31 PM PST by reed13k (For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothing.)
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To: SunkenCiv

” Once it falls in, nothing is expected to be heard from the doomed gas ever again.”

But will you be able to smell it? (Sorry - couldn’t help myself)


10 posted on 12/29/2011 11:46:12 PM PST by aquila48
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To: Little Pig

“...you can safely orbit a black hole with no trouble.”

How often have you done that?


11 posted on 12/30/2011 12:03:12 AM PST by SatinDoll (/O FOREIGN NATIONALS AS U.S.A. PRESIDENT)
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To: SatinDoll

I’m still only bullseye-ing womp rats in my T-16, but better astrophysicists than me tell me that it is no more difficult to orbit a black hole than it is to orbit a star or any other object.


12 posted on 12/30/2011 12:11:26 AM PST by Little Pig (Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.)
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To: bigheadfred

;’)


13 posted on 12/30/2011 12:22:05 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: aquila48

Pull my extremely elongated finger. ;’)


14 posted on 12/30/2011 12:25:52 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: bigheadfred

It can be done that way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferometry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_interferometry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Long_Baseline_Interferometry


15 posted on 12/30/2011 12:27:04 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: Little Pig

Black holes suck in Mecca, but then, everything sucks in Mecca.


16 posted on 12/30/2011 12:29:08 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: Little Pig
Yes, gravity has compressed them to the point that at their surface light gets bent back in, but you can safely orbit a black hole with no trouble.

Maybe you can. X radiation and gravitational sheering effect does a number on the hull of most spacecraft that try that maneuver!

17 posted on 12/30/2011 4:48:51 AM PST by 6SJ7 (Meh.)
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To: Little Pig

Are you sure? Because I saw a movie once in which a black hole sucked things in and you know the movies are pretty much based on sound science... ;)


18 posted on 12/30/2011 8:56:45 AM PST by brytlea (An ounce of chocolate is worth a pound of cure)
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To: SunkenCiv

Diner - as in a place which serves food, as opposed to one who dines, reminded me of Millaways - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series. (Don’t Panic)


19 posted on 12/30/2011 1:12:34 PM PST by ixtl ( You live and learn. Or you don't live long.)
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To: Little Pig

Just don’t get closer than 3 Schwarzschild radii and you’ll do just fine - I’ve followed that particular advice and have been happily orbiting the black hole in question for close to 46 years.


20 posted on 12/30/2011 6:52:32 PM PST by Hoplite
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