Black hole outburst looks 'faster than light'

CNN ^ | 10/3/02 | Richard Stenger

[Andy from Beaverton]

The milestone, accomplished with one of the most powerful space telescopes, could help explain the behavior of a variety of mysterious objects that populate the universe.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory captured the evolution of the cosmic jets, which spurt from everything from dense stars to black holes to active galactic cores.

[IncPen]

I thought this was about crusty panstsuits. My bad.

[Bedford Forrest]

But when the annointed first informed us [the great unwashed] of the existence of black holes, did they not assure, yea, promise us that nothing, nada, ni un poquito, could ever escape the tidal forces of a black hole? The question is, exactly when did the annointed quietly inform us that nothing, absolutely nothing [other than humungous jets of high octane energy- X-rays and Lord knows what particles] could ever escape the tidal forces of a black hole? I think it was 15-20 years ago, but I am unsure.

[ClearCase_guy]

Apparently some things can escape from a black hole. But scientists continue to stick to the belief that nothing can surpass the speed of light. Oh, sure, these x-rays appear to move faster than light -- but, as the article says, that's an optical illusion. And, yes, there were recent reports that some things can move faster than light and had been observed to do so in a laboratory, but that's not important.

The key things to remember are: nothing can move faster than the speed of light (unless they are inside a laboratory) and nothing can escape from a black hole (except some things that we'll list in a few years).

[PatrickHenry]

Somewhat interesting.

[Anti-Bubba182]

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[StopGlobalWhining]

Right out of Halton Arp's book: Seeing Red: Redshifts, Cosmology and Academic Science

For years Arp has been treated as a dissident, but with his long distinguished record at Cal Tech, and the volume of his observations and publications that Big Bang theory was unable to explain, it appears now that the first public cracks in the dam are finally being exposed.

I always hoped it would happen in his lifetime, so he would have the final laugh.

More links on this subject are at: http://www.freenet.hut.fi/avaruus/arplinks.html

[Consort]

A variable speed of light would drastically shave parsecs off of what estimated distances were thought to be.

[Leto]

The XRay burst would occur as the supernova collapsed. The xrays wouldn't be emitted from inside the event horizon. The Xrays would be emitted by particles being sucked into the event horizons along the 'poles of the spinning star. Think of the Northern lights, which are photons being emitted by particles traveling nears the magnetic pole.

[EternalHope]

The key things to remember are: nothing can move faster than the speed of light (unless they are inside a laboratory) and nothing can escape from a black hole (except some things that we'll list in a few years).

I think I got it. I think.

[AFPhys]

It is still thought to be true that nothing can accelerate away from within the "event horizon" of a black hole. The XRays are emitted by matter as it is being sucked into a black hole, much as synchrotron radiation is emitted by electrons as they are accelerated in a synchrotron other particle accelerator.

There is, however, a way for energy to escape from a black hole over eons and eons, and I mean a LOOOONG time... and that is by quantum tunneling... by that process a black hole can/will eventually "evaporate".

[jae471]

Don't forget Hawking radiation -- the process by which black holes "evaporate".

[Aracelis]

The jets seemed to start out faster than the speed of light

Pardon my ignorance, but just how would this be determined?

[PatrickHenry]

Pardon my ignorance, but just how would this be determined? [The jets seemed to start out faster than the speed of light]?

Presumably by measuring the time it took for the jet to reach a determinable distance from the jet's origin. However, this could be the well-known "flashlight effect" at work. That is, you take a flashlight and shine the beam from the moon to the roof of your house, then back to the moon, etc. The point of light would seem to be moving FTL, but it's an illusion.

[Aracelis]

Oh, duh. Sorry, haven't had my afternoon tea yet, thus the brain is not fully engaged.