↳ Welcome To Night Vale: Episode 37 - The Action By Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor &

Black holes

A black hole is a region of spacetime exhibiting such strong gravitational effects that nothing—not even particles and electromagnetic radiation such as light—can escape from inside it. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can deform spacetime to form a black hole. The boundary of the region from which no escape is possible is called the event horizon. Although the event horizon has an enormous effect on the fate and circumstances of an object crossing it, no locally detectable features appear to be observed. In many ways a black hole acts like an ideal black body, as it reflects no light.  

The idea of a body so massive that even light could not escape was briefly proposed by astronomical pioneer and English clergyman John Michell in a letter published in November 1784. Michell’s simplistic calculations assumed that such a body might have the same density as the Sun, and concluded that such a body would form when a star’s diameter exceeds the Sun’s by a factor of 500, and the surface escape velocity exceeds the usual speed of light.

At the center of a black hole, as described by general relativity, lies a gravitational singularity, a region where the spacetime curvature becomes infinite. For a non-rotating black hole, this region takes the shape of a single point and for a rotating black hole, it is smeared out to form a ring singularity that lies in the plane of rotation. In both cases, the singular region has zero volume. It can also be shown that the singular region contains all the mass of the black hole solution. The singular region can thus be thought of as having infinite density. 

How Do Black Holes Form?

Scientists think the smallest black holes formed when the universe began.

Stellar black holes are made when the center of a very big star falls in upon itself, or collapses. When this happens, it causes a supernova. A supernova is an exploding star that blasts part of the star into space.

Scientists think supermassive black holes were made at the same time as the galaxy they are in.

Supermassive black holes, which can have a mass equivalent to billions of suns, likely exist in the centers of most galaxies, including our own galaxy, the Milky Way. We don’t know exactly how supermassive black holes form, but it’s likely that they’re a byproduct of galaxy formation. Because of their location in the centers of galaxies, close to many tightly packed stars and gas clouds, supermassive black holes continue to grow on a steady diet of matter.

If Black Holes Are “Black,” How Do Scientists Know They Are There?

A black hole can not be seen because strong gravity pulls all of the light into the middle of the black hole. But scientists can see how the strong gravity affects the stars and gas around the black hole. 

Scientists can study stars to find out if they are flying around, or orbiting, a black hole.

When a black hole and a star are close together, high-energy light is made. This kind of light can not be seen with human eyes. Scientists use satellites and telescopes in space to see the high-energy light.

On 11 February 2016, the LIGO collaboration announced the first observation of gravitational waves; because these waves were generated from a black hole merger it was the first ever direct detection of a binary black hole merger. On 15 June 2016, a second detection of a gravitational wave event from colliding black holes was announced. 

Simulation of gravitational lensing by a black hole, which distorts the image of a galaxy in the background 

Animated simulation of gravitational lensing caused by a black hole going past a background galaxy. A secondary image of the galaxy can be seen within the black hole Einstein ring on the opposite direction of that of the galaxy. The secondary image grows (remaining within the Einstein ring) as the primary image approaches the black hole. The surface brightness of the two images remains constant, but their angular size varies, hence producing an amplification of the galaxy luminosity as seen from a distant observer. The maximum amplification occurs when the background galaxy (or in the present case a bright part of it) is exactly behind the black hole.

Could a Black Hole Destroy Earth?

Black holes do not go around in space eating stars, moons and planets. Earth will not fall into a black hole because no black hole is close enough to the solar system for Earth to do that.

Even if a black hole the same mass as the sun were to take the place of the sun, Earth still would not fall in. The black hole would have the same gravity as the sun. Earth and the other planets would orbit the black hole as they orbit the sun now.

The sun will never turn into a black hole. The sun is not a big enough star to make a black hole.

More posts about black holes

Source 1, 2 & 3

i got bored here’s a comprehensive list of my favourite facts about some of the irl authors from bsd :D

- chuuya and ango got into an argument and were going to duel, but the duel was cancelled due to chuuyas height

- chuuya, though 5”3 in bsd, was 4”9 irl 😢 heartbreaking </3 KDHSJS

- chuuya was an aggressive drunk and akutagawa got drunk after literally a sip of cider </3

- skk FULLY hated each other, they once had a conversation where chuuya asked dazai his favourite flower to which dazai, sobbing, responded peach flower

- when dazai and chuuya worked together for a literary magazine and it flopped dazai said it was because he worked with chuuya LFKAHMS

- dazai at one point though did have a lot of respect for chuuya however !

- yosano and mori were actually rlly close friends to the point that yosano asked mori to name her twins for her :”]

- haruki murakami (author of kafka on the shore, norwegian woods, etc) is the grandson of kunikida . DKKJFSNNIY_}>$++

- akutagawa was a maths tutor. dots.

- dazai and akutagawa might’ve been bisexual !!!

- dazai wanted to win the akutagawa award (very prestigious prize for literature) so badly he wrote a letter that was 4”1 in length to haruo sati (dazais mentor and judge of the award) begging to win the award

- when he didn’t win it, he sent another letter to kawabata (if i’m not mistaken) later saying, quote, “i’ll stab him”

- Rimbaud considered his mother the 'mother of darkness' and when he and his sister passed, she lay herself to rest in between them (whilst they were still alive) to, quote, see how it felt HFDJKS

- ango got suspended from his school for punching a teacher in the face and for (allegedly) making a 2 foot tall snow statue of a dick outside his school when he was 15

- oda loved curry so much that when he died a quote came about saying “when a tiger dies, it leaves it’s skin behind; when oda died, he left curry rice behind”

- lupin is a real bar that still exists in ginza, japan, that dazai oda and ango did regularly visit :”]]]]

hope u enjoyed !! i got most of these facts from the bsd bibliophile, bungo to alchemist wiki and twitter :D god i lvoe literature MDHSJS

That infamous prison escape.

Ballad of a beautiful woman

I wake up in a strange room, the sheets are sticky and the clothes are dirty.       Last night my body was not mine. We met in a bar, he offered me a drink and told me I was beautiful;       that I was hot. He told me: “I enjoy your company. Come with me.” He brought me to an art gallery, he showed me what he liked, he asked for my thoughts. He kissed me, he tied my wrists: he told me to beg,       he called me a whore. He hit me, I didn’t like it. He hit me again.       I asked for more.

It’s morning and I wake up in another bed. This man was less rough, he kissed my skin and caressed my body;       he said that a woman like me deserved worship. We met again. And again, and again. He became more talkative during sex. He started saying that I had a perfect body, that I was a gift from the gods,       that I was made for him. When I told him I was moving he begged me to stay.       Two weeks later he was at my door.       He broke in.       I was on the bed.

I wake up in the middle of the night. I’m alone. Many men approached me during the evening, each of them with a lascivious look.       I turned them down. I laid in my bed and I cried.

      There is no love for me in this world. Only pity and shallow lust.

Promises of Gold, José Olivarez

Things that fall petals, teardrops, snowflakes, rain, stars, tides, eyelids, time, shadows, leaves, the sun, and I for you.

Dragon Boat Festival by lei min

They say the history of the west was written from the saddle of a horse, but it’s never been told from the heart of one… Not till now.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) dir. Kelly Asbury & Lorna Cook

☆ Rondo Across Countless Kalpas ☆

✅ tortured by Voices

✅ cursed by god

✅ small waist

✅ criminal record

✅ died once

Diagnosis: babygirl