Previous in Forum: Cause of Illusion   Next in Forum: First Nuclear Powered Hydrogen Generation Facility Goes Online
Close

Comments Format:






Change Mode
Close

Subscribe to Discussion:

CR4 allows you to "subscribe" to a discussion
so that you can be notified of new comments to
the discussion via email.

Close

Rating Vote:







Add Vote
5 comments
Rate Comments: Nested
Rixter
Guru

Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: About 4000 miles from the center of the earth (+/-100 mi)
Posts: 9910
Good Answers: 1141

New nearest black hole found

03/07/2023 9:04 PM

A closer stellar black hole to study...

"Astronomers have discovered the closest black hole to Earth, the first unambiguous detection of a dormant stellar-mass black hole in the Milky Way. Its close proximity to Earth, a mere 1,600 light-years away, offers an intriguing target of study to advance understanding of the evolution of binary systems."

https://beta.nsf.gov/news/astronomers-discover-closest-black-hole-earth#:~:text=Astronomers%20have%20discovered%20the%20closest,the%20evolution%20of%20binary%20systems.
Register to Reply
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.
Randall
Guru

Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Hemel Hempstead, UK
Posts: 5826
Good Answers: 322
#1

Re: New nearest black hole found

03/08/2023 7:16 AM

Just to give some dimensional context: if you consider the milky way to be a round tabletop about 100 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick then this black hole would be about 1.6 inches away. Incidentally Betelgeuse which in the same model is only about 0.64 inches away is expected to go supernova in the near future, and would then become either a neutron star or a blackhole depending on how much matter is expelled in the supernova.

__________________
 If you spend all your time looking for people and things to complain about: trust me, you will find plenty to complain about.
Register to Reply
Rixter
Guru

Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: About 4000 miles from the center of the earth (+/-100 mi)
Posts: 9910
Good Answers: 1141
#2
In reply to #1

Re: New nearest black hole found

03/08/2023 8:31 AM

When Betelgeuse explodes, it will certainly not go unnoticed, assuming humans are still around. Unfortunately, "near future" means within the next 100,000 years. It is extremely unlikely in the lifetimes of anyone alive now.

A lot can happen in 100,000 years. Humans were still living in caves and a sharpened stone was "high tech".
Register to Reply
redfred
Guru
Engineering Fields - Electrical Engineering - Been there, done that. Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Long Island NY
Posts: 15600
Good Answers: 981
#3

Re: New nearest black hole found

03/08/2023 10:38 PM

I suspect 1,600 light years is far enough away that the alignment of any potential jet cannot be a problem here. At least not a direct cosmic radiation problem. Possibly such a jet could nudge some ort cloud debris...

__________________
 "Don't disturb my circles." translation of Archimedes last words
Register to Reply
PWSlack
Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Indeterminate Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: In the bothy, 7 chains down the line from Dodman's Lane level crossing, in the nation formerly known as Great Britain. Kettle's on.
Posts: 32175
Good Answers: 839
#4

Re: New nearest black hole found

03/14/2023 8:09 AM

<...Astronomers have discovered the closest black hole to Earth...> so far.

__________________
 "Did you get my e-mail?" - "The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" - George Bernard Shaw, 1856
Register to Reply
Haymaker
Power-User

Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 482
Good Answers: 7
#5

Re: New nearest black hole found

03/14/2023 2:07 PM

At 1600 LY we would see particulates long before they got here. But at 1600 LY a strong gamma would take out half the earth's life very quickly. And probably all of our atmosphere. And no one would know where or what happened.

I doubt very much the existence of black holes. Cern shows me, they are impossible. But gamma is very real and the effects are well studied. We would always see a super nova coming. Have years of warning. Even though nothing could be done. We might even survive, if the dispersion is great enough. But a gamma is an unknown instant nightmare.

__________________
 Light is only half of what you think it is.
Register to Reply Off Topic (Score 7)
Register to Reply
Have a Different Question?
5 comments
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Haymaker (1); PWSlack (1); Randall (1); redfred (1); Rixter (1)

Previous in Forum: Cause of Illusion   Next in Forum: First Nuclear Powered Hydrogen Generation Facility Goes Online

Advertisement

Got Something to Say?
Ask a Question
Start a Discussion

Search this Forum
General Discussion:
Go

CR4 Sections
Aerospace
BioMech & BioMed
Chemical & Material Science
Civil Engineering
Communications & Electronics
Education and Engineering Careers
Electrical Engineering
General Discussion
Instrumentation
Manufacturing
Mechanical Engineering
New Technologies & Research
Software & Programming
Sustainable Engineering
Transportation

Site Directories
Forum Directory
Blog Directory
User Group Directory
RSS Feeds

CR4 Rules of Conduct
CR4 FAQ
Site Glossary

Who's Online (157 right now)
Show Members
Advertisement