Black holes are double trouble for galaxy

The new scientist ^ | 11/20/02 | Hazel Muir

[js1138]

I'madding that to my list of things to worry about, just after giant tidal waves, asteroids, supervolcanos and oak tree emissions.

[1bigdictator]

Check out the photos at the link... pretty cool stuff.

[WoofDog123]

based on what is known about cataclysmic impacts in the last several thousand years, our odds of meteor/comet impacts collapsing civilization in the next 40 years are possibly even a few%...throw in a volcanic super-eruption (i.e. thera, hekla, what was that other one heard 'round the world?) and we might qualify as 1 in 20 for a 'bad to really bad' event by mid-century.

[azhenfud]

"Two monstrous black holes are jostling for power in the same galaxy,..."

Thought this was another Jesse and Al rant - sorry....

[1bigdictator]

ROTFL... good one.

[MHGinTN]

How far away are these 'holes' and how long until the 'seen' images unite? How fast do 'grabitational' waves travel through the universe?... I'm guessing, but it seems like the two holes are likely now one and the gravitational waves should have long since passed us.

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

giving the fabric of space-time a good shake.

All kidding aside, can anyone begin to explain what this actually means? I understand that a lot of energy will be released at the X-ray level, but not really an explosion vis a vis a super-nova because no matter will escape the gravitational pull.

Einstein said gravity was merely a distortion of the time-space grid by matter and energy. Fine, I saw the Simpson episode where they tried to visualize it, but what does such a collision really mean in terms of physics and reality?

[goldstategop]

Put simply, a black hole is an agglomeration of nothingness. Everything that's sucked inside it disappears and never comes out again. That's how ominous they are as celestial objects.

[Doctor Stochastic]

General [it's only a] theory predicts that gravitational waves and other disturbances travel at the speed of light, so: What You See is What You Get.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

>>"Two monstrous black holes are jostling for power in the same galaxy,..."
>>Thought this was another Jesse and Al rant - sorry....

Wrong kind of holes.

[azhenfud]

"Everything that's sucked inside it disappears and never comes out again."

ie. Federal Government....

[azhenfud]

LOL! Right, I stand corrected. Thanks....

[goldstategop]

The Daschle's and the Clintons' minds. They're the two most foreboding black holes in all of contemporary existence.

[justlurking]

In fact, NGC 6240 is a perfect vision of the fate of our own Galaxy, the Milky Way. In about four billion years, the Milky Way will collide with its neighbourhood rival, the giant spiral galaxy M31 in Andromeda.

Maybe I should keep those emergency Y2K provisions after all.

[antivenom]

Black holes...not black a$$holes....

[Lael]

the Chandra X-ray satellite

At least Chandra got a Satellite named after her!

[talleyman]

Put simply, a black hole is an agglomeration of nothingness. Everything that's sucked inside it disappears and never comes out again.
Much like the federal budget. (And elections are merely disruptions in the government-spending continuum.)

[Gopher Broke]

Oh my goodness...something new to get depressed about! Didn't you know that Black Holes are caused by God trying to divide by 0?

[Consort]

Everything that's sucked inside it disappears and never comes out again.

That doesn't make sense. I think that our galaxy (and all others) emerged from black holes located in the center of each galaxy. It's a cyclical event.