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Milky Way's Center Packed with Black Holes
Space.com ^ | 1/12/05 | Robert Ray Britt

Posted on 01/12/2005 9:07:35 PM PST by NormsRevenge

SAN DIEGO -- A new study reveals that the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is loaded with black holes, as astronomers have expected in recent years.

The galactic center is dominated by one supermassive black hole. It packs a mass equal to about 3 million Suns. Around it, scientists have expected to find a high concentration of stellar black holes, the sort that result from the collapse of massive stars. Each can be a few to many times the mass of the Sun.

Observations have hinted at the existence of many stellar black holes near the galactic center. But nosing around there is hard, because the region is shrouded in dust. Visible light doesn't escape the region.

The ongoing study, led by UCLA postdoctoral fellow Michael Muno, is searching the inner 75-light-years of the galaxy with the NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. X-rays conveniently pierce interstellar dust.

Muno and his colleagues have found strong evidence for seven black holes (they could be neutron stars, which are also very dense). Importantly, four of the objects were concentrated in the inner 3 light-years of space around the supermassive black hole.

"The observed high concentration of these sources implies that a huge number of black holes and neutron stars have gathered in the center of the galaxy," Muno said.

Extrapolating to the whole sky, the finding suggest a swarm of 10,000 black holes and neutron stars orbit near the galaxy's middle.

A theory by UCLA's Mark Morris, co-researcher on the new project, predicted the concentration back in 1993. Dense objects like black holes interact gravitationally with less dense stars. The lighter stars tend to get jettisoned outward, Morris figured, while the black holes slow down on their orbital trek around the galactic center, and they sink inward.

The black holes can't be seen directly. Those that are detected have likely taken a companion, a normal star that they devour gradually, the theorists figure. The extended feast also involves a release of X-rays as gas from the normal star is superheated until it glows before plunging beyond the point of no return.

The findings were reported here at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. More research is needed to confirm the conclusions, the scientists said.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: California; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: blackholes; center; milkyway; nasa; packed; space
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Four bright, variable X-ray sources (circles) were discovered within 3 light years of Sgr A* (the bright source just above Source C). The lower panel illustrates the strong variability of one of these sources. This variability, which is present in all the sources, is indicative of an X-ray binary system where a black hole or neutron star is pulling matter from a nearby companion star. Credit: NASA/CXC/UCLA/M.Muno et al.

1 posted on 01/12/2005 9:07:36 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

Oh my God----I just had one and it was delicious.


2 posted on 01/12/2005 9:10:19 PM PST by Mears
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To: NormsRevenge

but are there any black pimps for those holes?


3 posted on 01/12/2005 9:12:53 PM PST by DSBull (When life gives you lemons find someone whom life has given vodka and have a party...)
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To: Mears

No, you don't eat em! Now you're gonna weigh as much as a million suns. Better start running that off.


4 posted on 01/12/2005 9:15:21 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: NormsRevenge

Is this the Fault of Bush?


5 posted on 01/12/2005 9:15:53 PM PST by Dallas59 ("A weak peace is worse than war" - Tacitcus)
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To: Mears
FRom a few months ago.. :)

Frozen sugar at center of Milky Way ^

6 posted on 01/12/2005 9:16:29 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ...... The War on Terrorism is the ultimate 'faith-based' initiative.)
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To: NormsRevenge

I thought Snickers had the holes ... or was that the nuts?


7 posted on 01/12/2005 9:20:36 PM PST by NonValueAdded ("We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good" HRC 6/28/2004)
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To: NormsRevenge
“Mars will be next .......... Marrrrrrrrrrs.”
8 posted on 01/12/2005 9:21:17 PM PST by dighton
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To: NormsRevenge
So if we open it up, will they all go flying like an overpacked suitcase?

As George V. Higgins wrote, it's darker than a trunk full of a-holes...

9 posted on 01/12/2005 9:33:04 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (Americans never quit. --Gen. Douglas MacArthur)
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To: NormsRevenge

10,000????


10 posted on 01/12/2005 9:33:53 PM PST by GeronL (I am NOT the real bin Laden)
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To: NormsRevenge

Cool article.

"center of our Milky Way Galaxy is loaded with black holes... galactic center is dominated by one supermassive black hole."

Hey, do they have any idea what happens when one black hole falls into another?


11 posted on 01/12/2005 9:53:29 PM PST by Fenris6 (3 Purple Hearts in 4 months w/o missing a day of work? He's either John Rambo or a Fraud)
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To: GeronL

oh, almost forgot...

SEMPER FI DEVIL DOG!

:)


12 posted on 01/12/2005 9:55:07 PM PST by Fenris6 (3 Purple Hearts in 4 months w/o missing a day of work? He's either John Rambo or a Fraud)
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To: NormsRevenge

// sorry Geron, that was for Norm

oh, almost forgot...

SEMPER FI DEVIL DOG!

:)


13 posted on 01/12/2005 9:56:36 PM PST by Fenris6 (3 Purple Hearts in 4 months w/o missing a day of work? He's either John Rambo or a Fraud)
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To: NormsRevenge

I thought they were full of Caramel and Nougat.


14 posted on 01/12/2005 10:00:35 PM PST by Brainhose (THINK OF THE KITTENS!)
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To: NormsRevenge

BTTT


15 posted on 01/12/2005 10:02:28 PM PST by Fiddlstix (This Tagline for sale. (Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: NormsRevenge

Would anyone here like to discuss the formation of the earth-moon system? The story ain't over yet...


16 posted on 01/12/2005 11:42:30 PM PST by timer
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To: NormsRevenge

bump


17 posted on 01/12/2005 11:48:10 PM PST by Captain Beyond (The Hammer of the gods! (Just a cool line from a Led Zep song))
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To: NormsRevenge

Hmmm...

That pic could be a very negative message for mankind from God...


18 posted on 01/12/2005 11:48:34 PM PST by EternalVigilance (If the President's so dumb, and he keeps outwittin' y'all, what does that say about y'all?)
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To: NormsRevenge
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19 posted on 01/13/2005 12:47:31 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (A Proud member of Free Republic ~~The New Face of the Fourth Estate since 1996.)
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To: Mears

I am in my sixth week of sugar detox and had to click on this thread just to stare at what I was hoping was a low sugar Milky Way, dark Chocolate.

And I have an allergy to sugar substitutes so can't go there.

More Water please. Uhg.


20 posted on 01/13/2005 1:14:15 AM PST by oceanperch (2005 is going to be an Awesome Year, IMO)
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