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[Escape Goat]

Super massive black holes are believed to grow as they absorb mass. As they absorb mass it is heated which creates an opposing force which pushes the mass away. Therefor it has a limit to how big it can grow. This discovery suggests that growth model isnt accurate.

We have no context to imagine the size of the sun let alone twice the size of the sun. 12 billion times? Is such a thing even possible.gif! I wonder if we will ever witness a black hole in person. Not falling into it but passively observing from a safe distance. It must be awe inspiring to know youre a few hundred kilometers from absolute annihilation.

Astronomers say they have have discovered a black hole so big that it challenges the theory about how they grow. Scientists said this black hole was formed about 900 million years after the Big Bang. But with measurements indicating it is 12 billion times the size of the sun, the black hole challenges a widely accepted hypothesis of growth rates. "Based on previous research, this is the largest black hole found for that period of time," Fuyan Bian, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University (ANU), told Reuters on Wednesday. "Current theory is for a limit to how fast a black hole can grow, but this black hole is too large for that theory." The discovery was described in a study published Wednesday in Nature.

The creation of supermassive black holes remains an open topic of research. However, many scientists have long believed the growth rate of black holes was limited. Black holes grow, scientific theory suggests, as they absorb mass. However, as mass is absorbed, it will be heated creating radiation pressure, which pushes the mass away from the black hole. "Basically, you have two forces balanced together which sets up a limit for growth, which is much smaller than what we found," said Bian.

The black hole was discovered a team of global scientists led by Xue-Bing Wu at Peking University, China, as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which provided imagery data of 35 percent of the northern hemisphere sky. The ANU is leading a comparable project, known as SkyMapper, to carry out observations of the Southern Hemisphere sky. Bian expects more black holes to be observed as the project advances.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/spac...-black-hole-12-billion-times-size-sun-n312781

 

[Log4Girlz]

Stop looking at my ass

 

[lem0n]

Muse is popular, but come on

 

[Marauder Shields]

I've always been fascinated by black holes. Pretty cool stuff. Kinda makes you feel really small and inconsequential.

 

[Floridian]

 

[Hip Hop]

My mind......my mind can't process that size.

 

[Carl]

Muse is popular, but come on

First thing i thought of too...

 

[Gordon Shumway]

You keep posting those dancing Penny gifs..now look what happens. Thanks, the gays!

Damn goat..

 

[lastplayed]

Scientists said this black hole was formed about 900 million years after the Big Bang.

From the big bang to a black hole in 900 million years? That star didn't waste any time.

 

[Log4Girlz]

From the big bang to a black hole in 900 million years? That star didn't waste any time.

Actually many believe the early universe produced black holes very early on as some of the first stars were massive, and they can have lifetimes of just a few million years.

 

[Mimosa97]

My mind......my mind can't process that size.

Same here ... I get dizzy just thinking about it.

 

[Floridian]

multiplied by 1.2 x 10^10 means that's a really big black hole.

 

[m_shortpants]

Mind blowing that something that large exists.

But then again...the entire universe exists...it's incomprehensible.

 

[Lamel]

Just for reference, it would take ~1.9 million copies of our entire solar system to fill that black hole in terms of diameter.

 

[Secret Fawful]

My mind......my mind can't process that size.

If I think of the sun as the size of a grain of sand, it becomes fairly easy to get a bit of a grasp of it, but if you're thinking in relation to your own size, you might cause your brain to burst into flames.

 

[Log4Girlz]

Just for reference, it would take ~1.9 million copies of our entire solar system to fill that black hole in terms of diameter.

Uhh, I don't believe that figure.

 

[m_shortpants]

I'm pretty ignorant on modern astronomer methods. How do they determine how far away something is? And how can they determine how large something is? When it was formed, etc?

 

[akachan ningen]

We have no context to imagine the size of the sun

wat

 

[hoverboarder]

The real question, if it's that big is HOW DID WE MISS IT?

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

12 billion what the hellll

 

[Escape Goat]

Uhh, I don't believe that figure.

You incorrectly gauged the size of the Wii and youre a log.

 

[StickSoldier]

Life is weird... How do things like this even exist? Just doesn't make sense.

 

[DarkFlow]

Super massive black holes are believed to grow as they absorb mass. As they absorb mass it is heated which creates an opposing force which pushes the mass away. Therefor it has a limit to how big it can grow. This discovery suggests that growth model isnt accurate.

We have no context to imagine the size of the sun let alone twice the size of the sun. 12 billion times? Is such a thing even possible.gif! I wonder if we will ever witness a black hole in person. Not falling into it but passively observing from a safe distance. It must be awe inspiring to know youre a few hundred kilometers from absolute annihilation.

A safe distance would be too way to far for you see it.

 

[Lamel]

Uhh, I don't believe that figure.

Diameter of sun = 1,391,684 km

Diameter of solar system (to neptune) = ~9 billion km

(1,391,684 km * 12,000,000,000)/(9,000,000,000) = ~1.9 million.


Obviously a very rough approximation based off assumptions of it being a perfect circle and all that.

 

[Nathan_Drake]

Do you all have the Astronomy Pic of the Day app? Love it. Usually change my phone background to updates. Highly suggest.

On topic: that's a big fucking hole

 

[Despera]

Why are scientists obsessed with big black holes?

 

[B.K.]

The real question, if it's that big is HOW DID WE MISS IT?

Space is big.

 

[Regret Upon Approval]

Size is vague.
Black holes tend to be measured in solar masses more often than volume.

So no, I don't think it is 12 billion suns across in diameter.

 

[BobLoblaw]

12 billion? Fuck. That thing's probably swallowed a dozen galaxies.

 

[Abstruse Moose]

It's a 12 billion solar mass black hole. Not 12 billion times the diameter of the sun.

 

[Lamel]

Size is vague.
Black holes tend to be measured in solar masses more often than volume.

So no, I don't think it is 12 billion suns across in diameter.

It's a 12 billion solar mass black hole. Not 12 billion times the diameter of the sun.

It says "size" in article, so that's what I went off of.

 

[DarkFlow]

Why are scientists obsessed with big black holes?

Because they are what create galaxy's. What do you think is at the center of most of them?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_A*

 

[Log4Girlz]

Diameter of sun = 1,391,684 km

Diameter of solar system (to neptune) = ~9 billion km

(1,391,684 km * 12,000,000,000)/(9,000,000,000) = ~1.9 million.


Obviously a very rough approximation based off assumptions of it being a perfect circle and all that.

But each doubling in diameter would be a quadrupling of volume if we discuss a hypothetical star of that mass not allowing for collapse into singularity.

But I'm a log

 

[Dreadnought]

Is it the great attractor?

 

[Escape Goat]

wat

Unless you can increase your mass at will to astronomical size theres no way you can comprehend size on that scale. Instead of saying 6 trillion miles we created a comfortable term for it, a light year. Our sense of scale is limited to what we can see with our own eyes.

 

[billeh]

Diameter of sun = 1,391,684 km

Diameter of solar system (to neptune) = ~9 billion km

(1,391,684 km * 12,000,000,000)/(9,000,000,000) = ~1.9 million.


Obviously a very rough approximation based off assumptions of it being a perfect circle and all that.

The study states that the mass of this black hole is 1.2 billion times that of the sun .. Black holes are extremely dense so it probably doesn't equal out to 1.2B diameters of the sun.

 

[Abstruse Moose]

It says "size" in article, so that's what I went off of.

The Nature article being quoted says solar mass. NBC just sucks at science.

 

[Lamel]

The study states that the mass of this black hole is 1.2 billion times that of the sun .. Black holes are extremely dense so it probably doesn't equal out to 1.2B diameters of the sun.

The Nature article being quoted says solar mass. NBC just sucks at science.

Okay that makes sense, I just went off the article which said "size". It was just a fun little calculation.

Based off of solar mass, there have been larger black holes discovered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_massive_black_holes

But each doubling in diameter would be a quadrupling of volume if we discuss a hypothetical star of that mass not allowing for collapse into singularity.

But I'm a log

Yes you are.

 

[KarmaCow]

It says "size" in article, so that's what I went off of.

As far as I know there is no way to estimate the volume of the black hole itself. There is no known mechanism that would counter the crushing force of gravity at that magnitude so there is nothing to help estimate the size of the mass itself, we can only observe the range of its influence.

 

[Raiden]

I never understood why space is not more popular with the general public. You literally have the craziest incomprehensible stuff out there.

 

[terrisus]

We have no context to imagine the size of the sun

...

We don't?

The Nature article being quoted says solar mass. NBC just sucks at science.

Also, that's pretty much expected.

 

[Lamel]

...

We don't?

How can the sun be real if our eyes aren't real?

 

[KarmaCow]

I never understood why space is not more popular with the general public. You literally have the craziest incomprehensible stuff out there.

That's exactly why, it's completely foreign and unrelatable. What does 12 billion times the mass of the sun actually mean? Hell what does the mass of the sun mean?

 

[Regret Upon Approval]

The Schwarzschild's radius of a 12 billion solar mass sun would be about 36 billion kilometers.
This is about 8 times the distance from the sun to Neptune at its furthest.
About 5 times the distance from the sun to Pluto at its furthest.

 

[Slavik81]

As far as I know there is no way to estimate the volume of the black hole itself. There is no known mechanism that would counter the crushing force of gravity that would help estimate the size of the mass itself, we can only observe the range of its influence.

Well, the event horizon is probably a good boundary to use when measuring size.

 

[Jedi2016]

They neglected to mention where it is. Telling me you found something without bothering to say where you found it seems somewhat pointless.

 

[dekline]

Black holes and ANU's...Pure science.

Imagine how much spaghetti that thing has eaten.

 

[terrisus]

How can the sun be real if our eyes aren't real?

Why don't we look directly at the sun with our eyes, and solve both of these issues!

Spoiler

Legal disclaimer: Do not look directly at the sun.

 

[terrisus]

They neglected to mention where it is. Telling me you found something without bothering to say where you found it seems somewhat pointless.

Space

Black holes and ANU's...

Black hole anus?

 

[LOLDSFAN]

Black holes and ANU's...Pure science.

Imagine how much spaghetti that thing has eaten.

Probably so much that its palms are sweaty.