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Massive black hole enters the record books (Messier 33)
AFP on Yahoo ^
| 10/17/07
| AFP
Posted on 10/17/2007 7:42:54 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
PARIS (AFP) - Astronomers have found the biggest stellar black hole so far, a monster with a mass 15.65 times that of our Sun, lurking in a nearby spiral-shaped galaxy.
The find, located in a galaxy called Messier 33, has an even bigger companion -- a close-orbiting star that is 70 times the mass of the Sun, according to an investigation led by Jerome Orosz of San Diego University, California.
Black holes are among the most powerful forces in the Universe. They are believed to be concentrated fields of gravity which are so powerful that nothing, not even light, can escape them.
Stellar black holes derive from the collapse of stars, but typically range from about three to 14 or 15 solar masses.
Another category of black holes are "supermassive" holes, spotted at the centre of galaxies, that have masses millions, even billions, times that of the Sun.
The paper appears on Thursday in Nature, the weekly British science journal.
The Orosz team were able to make their calculations with unusual accuracy -- the estimate is plus or minus 1.45 solar masses -- because the Messier 33 phenomenon is a so-called "eclipsing binary."
This means that the companion star passes directly in front of the black hole in its 3.45-day orbit, blocking out X-ray emissions from the hole.
The regular fall and then rise in the X-ray signal provides the key indicator for calculating the "weight" of the hole.
TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: blackhole; massive; messier
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This Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics handout image received in June 2006 shows the Messier 33 galaxy. Astronomers have found the biggest stellar black hole so far, a monster with a mass 15.65 times that of our Sun, lurking in a the nearby spiral-shaped galaxy Messier 33.(AFP/HO/File)
To: NormsRevenge
AND IT'S NAME IS HILLARY
2
posted on
10/17/2007 7:44:04 PM PDT
by
BOBTHENAILER
(One by one, in small groups or in whole armies, we don't care how we do it, but we're gonna getcha)
To: NormsRevenge
I’ve always wondered, what happens when two black holes try to eat each other?
3
posted on
10/17/2007 7:44:41 PM PDT
by
Terpfen
(It's your fault, not Pelosi's.)
To: NormsRevenge
If it’s a Messier galaxy, how close is it? The masses and distances are staggering.
/Rare Earther Republican
4
posted on
10/17/2007 7:47:48 PM PDT
by
IslandJeff
(She wore a raspberry beret - the kind you find at a second-hand store)
To: Terpfen
Ive always wondered, what happens when two black holes try to eat each other? Ever seen Hillary around Helen Thomas?
5
posted on
10/17/2007 7:48:21 PM PDT
by
BOBTHENAILER
(One by one, in small groups or in whole armies, we don't care how we do it, but we're gonna getcha)
To: Terpfen
Ive always wondered, what happens when two black holes try to eat each other? One wins?
6
posted on
10/17/2007 7:48:23 PM PDT
by
Mad_Tom_Rackham
(Elections have consequences.)
To: Terpfen
7
posted on
10/17/2007 7:49:23 PM PDT
by
NormsRevenge
(Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... ICE’s toll-free tip hotline —1-866-DHS-2-ICE ... 9/11 .. Never FoRGeT)
8
posted on
10/17/2007 7:50:34 PM PDT
by
NormsRevenge
(Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... ICE’s toll-free tip hotline —1-866-DHS-2-ICE ... 9/11 .. Never FoRGeT)
To: Terpfen
9
posted on
10/17/2007 7:50:44 PM PDT
by
ari-freedom
(I am for traditional moral values, a strong national defense, and free markets.)
To: NormsRevenge
Should I start worrying or do I have a day or so. ;-)
10
posted on
10/17/2007 7:51:12 PM PDT
by
doc1019
(Fred Thompson '08)
To: IslandJeff
If its a Messier galaxy, how close is it? The masses and distances are staggering. Whatever the hell it is. I hope stays far away from us.
11
posted on
10/17/2007 7:55:11 PM PDT
by
Jorge
To: NormsRevenge
Massive black hole enters the record books (Messier 33) AFP on Yahoo ^ | 10/17/07 | AFP ...
Astronomers have found the biggest stellar black hole so far, a monster with a mass 15.65 times that of our Sun, lurking in a nearby spiral-shaped galaxy. ...
Another category of black holes are "supermassive" holes, spotted at the centre of galaxies, that have masses millions, even billions, times that of the Sun. I'm confused. What's the big deal?
12
posted on
10/17/2007 7:55:34 PM PDT
by
LoneRangerMassachusetts
(The only good Mullah is a dead Mullah. The only good Mosque is the one that used to be there.)
To: NormsRevenge
Yes but what does this have to do with illegal immigration?
13
posted on
10/17/2007 7:58:22 PM PDT
by
ConservatismNow
(Iran is just a fantastic natural resource crying out for new, more responsible owners.)
To: LoneRangerMassachusetts
I'm confused. What's the big deal?
Global warming increases the chance of enlarging the tiny black hole that we've got living in the Bermuda Triangle.
Or at least, that's what Algore told me.
To: NormsRevenge
15
posted on
10/17/2007 7:59:00 PM PDT
by
P.O.E.
To: Jorge
Honestly, what I can’t figure out about The Big Bang is how gravitational fields can contravene the original expansion (think of the ripple when you throw a rock into a pond), and its original ballistic energy thereof.
I’m also an ignorant layman accountant. YMMV.
16
posted on
10/17/2007 7:59:17 PM PDT
by
IslandJeff
(She wore a raspberry beret - the kind you find at a second-hand store)
To: NormsRevenge
17
posted on
10/17/2007 7:59:23 PM PDT
by
Captain Beyond
(The Hammer of the gods! (Just a cool line from a Led Zep song))
To: LoneRangerMassachusetts
I think this is the biggest "stellar" black hole, meaning caused by the death of a star.
Nobody knows how those supermassive holes formed.
To: NormsRevenge
"Massive black hole enters the record books"
19
posted on
10/17/2007 8:06:30 PM PDT
by
fieldmarshaldj
(~~~Jihad Fever -- Catch It !~~~ (Backup tag: "Live Fred or Die"))
To: NormsRevenge
This means that the companion star passes directly in front of the black hole in its 3.45-day orbit, blocking out X-ray emissions from the hole.
God post. X-rays do not emit from the hole...
If a black hole passes through a cloud of interstellar matter, or is close to another "normal" star, the black hole can accrete matter into itself. As the matter falls or is pulled towards the black hole, it gains kinetic energy, heats up and is squeezed by tidal forces. The heating ionizes the atoms, and when the atoms reach a few million degrees Kelvin, they emit X-rays. The X-rays are sent off into space before the matter crosses the Schwarzschild radius and crashes into the singularity. Thus we can see this X-ray emission.
20
posted on
10/17/2007 8:22:50 PM PDT
by
humint
(...err the least and endure! VDH)
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