Part 1 of 5 - Super-massive Black Holes - BBC Horizon
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In June 2000, astronomers made an extraordinary discovery. One that promises to solve one of the biggest problems in cosmology - how and why galaxies are created. Incredibly, the answer involves the most weird, destructive and terrifying objects in the Universe - supermassive black holes. Scientists are beginning to believe that these forces of pure destruction actually help trigger the birth of galaxies and therefore are at the heart of the creation of stars, planets and all life. Supermassive black holes are so extraordinary that until recently, many people doubted that they existed at all. The idea of giant black holes the size of the Solar System seemed more like science fiction that reality - such monsters would be so powerful that they could destroy the very fabric of the Universe. But in the last five years a series of discoveries has changed our understanding of supermassive black holes and galaxies forever. Using the powerful Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have been scanning nearby galaxies, searching for these giant black holes. It's a difficult job - by their very nature black holes swallow light - so can never be seen. So what scientists have been looking for is the effect of their massive gravity, hurling stars around them at immense speed. What they've found is more extraordinary than anyone could ever have imagined; not just evidence that these vast destructive monsters exist but so far they're in every single galaxy toward which they have turned their telescopes. These giant agents of destruction appear to be common throughout the Universe. Scientists now think supermassive black holes are a fundamental part of what a galaxy actually is. Lurking at the heart of every single galaxy is a giant black hole of apocalyptic proportions - and that includes our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Astronomer Andrea Ghez has been studying the heart of the Milky Way for the last five years. What she's discovered is irrefutable evidence for a giant black hole, 3 billion times the size of our own sun. A black hole that could destroy the entire Solar System. And as Horizon was filming in July 2000, Ghez got some terrifying images - of the giant monster sucking up gas and stars at the galaxy heart. So what is this giant monster doing at the heart of our galaxy? What effect will this giant black hole 25,000 light years away have on us and the rest of the galaxy around it? These are questions that have been puzzling astronomers for the last few years - and in June, two separate groups of scientists found evidence that points to a startling answer. Rather than being destructive parasites, it seems that supermassive black holes may be essential in the very creation of the galaxies they live in. Exactly how our galaxy was created has mystified astronomers and physicists for years. Although there have been many theories, there's little evidence to explain how the gas in the early Universe condensed to form the galaxy we see today. Now scientists realise they've been missing a vital ingredient - a supermassive black hole. The immense gravity of a giant black hole might trigger the gas to collapse in the first place. By churning up the gas around it, a giant black hole would trigger the birth of stars, planets and life itself. Despite being the most destructive thing in the Universe, scientists now think our supermassive black hole could be crucial in creating the galaxy as we know it. The supermassive black hole in our own galaxy may be the reason we exist, but recent work suggests it may also be our end. At present Earth is so far away from the black hole that it can't affect us, but physicist John Dubinski thinks all that could change. In January 2000 he graphically simulated the final fate of our galaxy. In 3 billion years we will collide with the next door galaxy, Andromeda. The resulting apocalypse will force the Earth and our Solar System out of orbit. Dubinski has calculated a worrying 50:50 chance that we'll be sent hurtling in towards the black hole at the centre of this maelstrom. This would be fatal for the Earth.
Comments
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sound: The Black Hole – Bladerunner
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I've seen the US Version of this but i think that version is 2001, not 2000 unlike the British version.
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It's 100,000 light years not 200,000
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Yep. And John Barry's awesome theme to "The Black Hole" too!
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Strangely enough, it fits.
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You seem to suggest that anything that we sense must exist. If I claim to sense a ghost in the same room as me, does that mean ghosts exist? Another example, on a dark lonely night walking in the park I sense a murderer lurking behind me. Does that mean that there exists a murderer lurking behind me? Surely I could just be very scared by the environment and it be the case that my perception of the world does not correspond to the way the world is. That is, there is, in fact, nobody behind me.
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Agreed! Feynman in his QED: The strange theory of light and matter says: "We shouldn't be so provincial: what we can detect directly with our own instrument, the eye, isn't the only thing in the world!". The same idea can be applied to the case in which our instrument(s) refers to the technology we use rather than just our eyes.
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Im not religious at all, but you saying Black Holes exist and are facts are just as based on 'believe' as a 'God' is. You big bangers are ridiculous.
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God exists. Evidence from Quran: "Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?" 21:30. It says that every living thing is made from water, and science agrees with that.
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Yes, it is true
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Who says He has to. If some colony of ants deep in the amazon didn't believe you existed, would you feel compelled to fly to the Amazon and come greet them, just because they didn't believe? Seriously I am not trying to be a religious nut, but I try to stay open minded both ways. Atheists may be right, but then again so could the Theists. Just like the smartest Theists say, it could possibly just all be one big huge test.
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We can see the manifestation of oxygen(Wind) for example,when it blows through the trees,dust on the ground & the movement of the waves in the ocean.So that's full proof that oxygen exist.God himself,hasn't manifest himself to humans to prove his existence,there for he doesn't exist.
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Maybe our technology isn't so great. Maybe compared to some other more advanced civilization our technology is useless. Maybe we think we are intelligent, but we are really just dumb animals. Not trying to be religious but just because we can't detect God doesn't mean He doesn't exist. We have eyes so we can see, ears so we hear, nose so we can smell. Maybe we need _______ to add a dimension to our senses. Like oxygen, Like the air. Can't see it, but its there.
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"For some reason, the universe began, I don't know why or how" - hold on, you've been telling us you believe in science and that's the best you can do???? A simple choice, the "universe" is either a) the product of random chance(s) or b) purposeful action (ie, God) - do you subscribe to "a" or to "b"?
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For some reason, the universe began. I don't know why or how, and neither does anyone else. If you want to limit your deity to that, fine, no argument. Assuming a personal deity who intervenes in the universe for specific individuals...no evidence, no reason for belief.
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Your probabilities are incredibly flawed. We don't know if its even possible to have other configurations of physical laws. As far as the earth goes...200 billion stars in this galaxy. over 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe. put that way, the odds are high indeed that something like earth would occur somewhere. And you're using an argument from personal increduility, a logical fallacy regrettably common with theists.
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Random chance and time. Uncomfortable as it may be, that is where the evidence leads us. Expecting the universe to conform to what anybody finds comfortable or intuitive is incredibly illogical.
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I would also note that for every Lemaitre or Copernicus, you've had dozens of Torquemada's, Romney's, Cromwell's and Urban II's.
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I did check, actually, and ill give you your Georges Lemaitre. I had assumed you were referring to Fred Hoyle, who actually coined the phrase. I do hope that you are including middle ages Islam in those scholars, as they created a great many facets of science. I would also note that, especially in the middle ages and rennaissance, people in the church hierarchy were really the only literate people with the free time to do any science.
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My previous comment should read "few- any - other than specific scientific communities".....
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