[quote]
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/62569000/jpg/_62569390_62569389.jpg[/img]
A space telescope has added to its list of spectacular finds, spotting millions of supermassive black holes and blisteringly hot, "extreme" galaxies.
The finds, by US space agency Nasa's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (Wise), once lay obscured behind dust.
But Wise can see in wavelengths correlated with heat, seeing for the first time some of the brightest objects in the Universe.
The haul will help astronomers work out how galaxies and black holes form.
It is known that most large galaxies host black holes at their centres, sometimes feeding on nearby gas, dust and stars and sometimes spraying out enough energy to halt star formation altogether.
How the two evolve together has remained a mystery, and the Wise data are already yielding some surprises.
Wise gives astronomers what is currently a unique view on the cosmos, looking at wavelengths of light far beyond those we can see but giving information that we cannot get from wavelengths we can.
Among its other discoveries, in 2011 Wise spotted in a "Trojan" asteroid ahead of the Earth in its orbit.
But with the latest results, Wise has come into its own as an unparalleled black hole hunter.
"We've got the black holes cornered," said Daniel Stern of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), lead author of one of the three studies presented on Wednesday.
Dr Stern and his colleagues used the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (Nustar) space telescope to examine the X-rays coming out of the black hole candidates spotted by Wise, presenting their findings in a paper to appear in Astrophysical Journal.
"Wise is finding them across the full sky, while Nustar is giving us an entirely new look at their high-energy X-ray light and learning what makes them tick," he said.
The other two studies presented - one already published in Astrophysical journal and another yet to appear - focussed on extremely hot, bright galaxies that have until now remained hidden: hot dust-obscured galaxies, or hot-Dogs.
There are so far about 1,000 candidate galaxies, some of which can out-shine our Sun by a factor of 100 trillion.
"These dusty, cataclysmically forming galaxies are so rare Wise had to scan the entire sky to find them," said Peter Eisenhardt of JPL, lead author of the paper describing Wise's first hot-Dog find.
"We are also seeing evidence that these record-setters may have formed their black holes before the bulk of their stars. The 'eggs' may have come before the 'chickens'."
The data from the Wise mission are made publicly available so that scientists outside the collaboration can also carry out their own studies, so the future will hold a wealth of studies from these extreme and otherwise hidden corners of the Universe.[/quote]
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19421453[/url]
awesome stuff. So I guess theres going to be an asteroid hitting earth though? or is it just going to circle around us?
Somebody give Muse a call, predictable joke.
oh god were all gonna die
[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;37466988]Somebody give Muse a call, predictable joke.[/QUOTE]
I love that song so much but apparently most of Facepunch doesn't so I better wouldn't post it.
its just a new strategy from obongo so we get scared and we vote for his communist views because he wants to give some fundings to the NASA corporation dont worry
[QUOTE=CaptainRagequit;37466981]awesome stuff. So I guess theres going to be an asteroid hitting earth though? or is it just going to circle around us?[/QUOTE]
nah, shawty just chillin' in that lagrange point
[QUOTE=CaptainRagequit;37466981]awesome stuff. So I guess theres going to be an asteroid hitting earth though? or is it just going to circle around us?[/QUOTE]
If I recall correctly, 'trojan' asteroids are asteroids that have the same orbit as we do and are either in a certain position in front of us, or behind us. They are in some sort of gravitational blind spots or something.
What if they collided together to form one huge mega ass giant black hole oh god
[QUOTE=Simples;37467067]What if they collided together to form one huge mega ass giant black hole oh god[/QUOTE]
a mega ass giant black hole?
[editline]31st August 2012[/editline]
supermassive butt hole
Now I won't live to see the day from that movie 2012.
Shit.
According to the article, none of the black holes are near us, or at least close enough to hurt us.
that's nice.
i think we'd know if they were close enough to hurt us by the fact that we would no longer exist
[QUOTE=-Get_A_Life-;37467044]its just a new strategy from obongo so we get scared and we vote for his communist views because he wants to give some fundings to the NASA corporation dont worry[/QUOTE]
I'm not alleging a conspiracy here, but I think this latest announcement from NASA, a government body under the control of the President of the United States, has announced "millions of super massive black holes" in an attempt to scare white voters out of the booths come November.
[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;37466988]Somebody give Muse a call, predictable joke.[/QUOTE]
Aw man if only I'd got here earlier...
imagine
every black hole is a worm hole
[quote]We've got the black holes cornered[/quote]
what if they strike back :o
[QUOTE=trotskygrad;37467827]what if they strike back :o[/QUOTE]
We are already in a guerrilla war with Mars, If we have to fight both them and a group of super massive black holes at once we are fucked
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;37467037]I love that song so much but apparently most of Facepunch doesn't so I better wouldn't post it.[/QUOTE]
I used to like it, but now it just reminds me of that stupid scene from Twilight :(
black holes forming before the stars do? that sounds interesting.
[QUOTE=CaptainRagequit;37467203]According to the article, none of the black holes are near us, or at least close enough to hurt us.
that's nice.[/QUOTE]
Sagittarius A is the super massive black hole in our galaxy.
There's pretty much one at the centre of every galaxy and we're caught in it's gravity well and we're probably slowly getting sucked into it.
[editline]30th August 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Aerkhan;37467798]imagine
every black hole is a worm hole[/QUOTE]
We'd still be fucked cause black holes just shred everything that goes into them.
[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;37468315]Sagittarius A is the super massive black hole in our galaxy.
There's pretty much one at the centre of every galaxy and we're caught in it's gravity well and we're probably slowly getting sucked into it.
[editline]30th August 2012[/editline]
We'd still be fucked cause black holes just shred everything that goes into them.[/QUOTE]
We're going fast enough to orbit stably. The issues will come about when we collide with Andromeda because that could reposition us in the galaxy, and afaik we are in our galaxy's 'Goldilocks Zone'.
[editline]30th August 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Greenen72;37467217]i think we'd know if they were close enough to hurt us by the fact that we would no longer exist[/QUOTE]
Actually, as we would no longer exist we wouldn't have the ability to know.
A black hole getting close to earth is definitely one of my greatest fears
Imagine it, one minute you're here, a minute later the entire solar system just ceases to exist.
I can't imagine not existing sorry
[editline]30th August 2012[/editline]
It's like saying "Remember before you were born?"
I'm assuming we're blaming Muse for this?
[QUOTE=latin_geek;37468901]A black hole getting close to earth is definitely one of my greatest fears
Imagine it, one minute you're here, a minute later the entire solar system just ceases to exist.[/QUOTE]
That's not what it would be like at all.
[editline]30th August 2012[/editline]
That's more like a vacuum metastability event
[QUOTE=latin_geek;37468901]A black hole getting close to earth is definitely one of my greatest fears
Imagine it, one minute you're here, a minute later the entire solar system just ceases to exist.[/QUOTE]
It wouldn't really be any different to a rogue star passing through, it the gravitational effects on our orbit are probably what we would have to worry about.
[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;37468315]Sagittarius A is the super massive black hole in our galaxy.
There's pretty much one at the centre of every galaxy and we're caught in it's gravity well and we're probably slowly getting sucked into it.
[editline]30th August 2012[/editline]
We'd still be fucked cause black holes just shred everything that goes into them.[/QUOTE]
But it would all link to a different world, maaan!
[QUOTE=latin_geek;37468901]A black hole getting close to earth is definitely one of my greatest fears
Imagine it, one minute you're here, a minute later the entire solar system just ceases to exist.[/QUOTE]
it wouldn't "cease to exist", our gravity would just get totally fucked up as it passed through. even if it did hit Earth directly and the whole planet got destroyed, matter is indestructible; we'd become a ring of rocks around it, then those rocks would quickly get sucked in and become invisible and intangible as the light around the hole is warped.
it is physically impossible for something to just not exist anymore, or at least black holes don't do that.
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