[Ichneumon]

A question for all the Astronomers out there--How can a black hole emit radiation?

Black holes actually do "leak" some energy due to quantum effects, but most of the energy we see from black holes doesn't actually come from *inside* the black hole, instead we're seeing blasts of radiation caused by the black hole but occurring outside it, made by a sort of "generator" effect as mass swirls into the black hole's gravitational field. This causes some high-energy beams to spray outward, most strongly as jets aligned along the north and south pole of the black hole.

[ShadowAce]

OK. That explanation makes some sense to me. I am not an astronomer or scientist by any stretch of the imagination. It makes more sense when I realize that the energy being emitted does not come from the black hole per se, but from around it.

Thanks.

[squarebarb]

Are you a fan of Dorothy Dunnet?

[RazzPutin]

That picture is consistent with predictions of the Plasma Universe cosmologists. Makes more sense than the Black Hole BS (Belief System).

If dark energy were visible, what color would it be?

[stylin_geek]

In other words, matter that is ripped apart when it is sucked into the hole, which can then produce radiation. The radiation could well escape the gravity of the black hole, depending on the angle at which it is emitted.

Although I think this effect is observed more where a star is orbiting a black hole, and the black hole is slowly pulling matter from the star.