Astrophysics and Cosmology - Discuss the Universe here

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

A star could collapse into a black hole within seconds. At least that's what Siri just told me. But she was asking me questions about that clock, was it a windup clock or was it running on a battery?

It's a 1962 aqua Bulova Accutron watch which uses a 360 Hertz tuning fork, powered by the intentions of Coast Insiders.  Richard C. Hoagland let it go for the price of a Carnival Cruise to Lima, Peru and the cost to print up 57 "Hoagland Discovery Tour 2014" T-shirts so he could launch a scientific expedition to Machu Picchu, but I'm still waiting for the package to arrive.

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[Tarbaby]

  well… Turns out it was a trick question. Siri says it doesn't matter which type of watch it was.
then she said, "there's no time like the present. You are living in an expanded now. "i  have no idea what she's talking about.

[zeebo]

Someone traveling into a black hole would not be aware that he had crossed the event horizon.  For him, everything around him would behave as before crossing that line.  At this point, though, his fate is sealed.  He is doomed to be pulled into a long noodle and then pulled apart, his mass accreted by the singularity.  But before that gruesome end, he would see the progress of the universe moving faster and faster into the future.  So quickly that there would be no time to analyze it.  It would be a very exciting way to die, though.

Also interesting, would be what an outside observer would see.  From Hawking's "Into a Black Hole" lecture:

Although you wouldn't notice anything particular as you fell into a black hole, someone watching you from a distance would never see you cross the event horizon. Instead, you would appear to slow down, and hover just outside. You would get dimmer and dimmer, and redder and redder, until you were effectively lost from sight.

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

I feel like everything everyone has said supports my assertion that the black hole and indeed the event horizon can never fully form from the perspective of the rest of the Universe, given that it only has a finite amount of time to happen.  What we observe (I think) will behave like a black hole and for all practical purposes look like a black hole, with everything smushed up against a virtual event horizon and red shifting into darkness, but I guess I'm just not going to get it right now.  I did learn it won't actually continue to look like a collapsing star as I had thought.  Lots of smart people here.  Thanks again.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

I feel like everything everyone has said supports my assertion that the black hole and indeed the event horizon can never fully form from the perspective of the rest of the Universe, given that it only has a finite amount of time to happen.

That's not quite how I see it, cuzz.  We're within reach of each other, though.

[area51drone]

Demystifying Mass ft. Sean Carroll

[zeebo]

I think I finally found a place to get away from it all - this telescope in the remote Atacama Desert of Chile.



More info about the VLT including a nice live webcam:

http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal/

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

I think I finally found a place to get away from it all - this telescope in the remote Atacama Desert of Chile.



More info about the VLT including a nice live webcam:

http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal/

On the few occasions anymore when I consider the notion of a creator, I think about a place like this being so remote from civilization, being the BEST place to look for other places which are vastly remote from our civilization.  I wonder if it's just a coincidence, or preparation for a better understanding.   

[area51drone]

On the few occasions anymore when I consider the notion of a creator, I think about a place like this being so remote from civilization, being the BEST place to look for other places which are vastly remote from our civilization.  I wonder if it's just a coincidence, or preparation for a better understanding.

That's very deep DPS.

[zeebo]

That's very deep DPS.

You know, in all honesty I thought the same thing.  I'm still thinking about it.

[area51drone]

Apparently the Sun is in the holiday spirit... 

http://blogs.wsj.com/dispatch/2014/10/10/ahead-of-halloween-the-sun-resembles-a-jack-o-lantern/

[Agent : Orange]

Hey guys, touching base with you all again, things are still crazy for me and getting worse! Have not had time to do much of anything online in a while, but I hope to post some long winded rants once I get a chance to catch my breath again.

In the meantime there's always neat stuff going on...
http://www.nasa.gov/chandra/news/ultraluminous_pulsar.html#.VDw9KhZH8tk
Could it be one of these?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_star

[Camazotz Automat]

Hey guys, touching base with you all again, things are still crazy for me and getting worse! Have not had time to do much of anything online in a while, but I hope to post some long winded rants once I get a chance to catch my breath again.

In the meantime there's always neat stuff going on...
http://www.nasa.gov/chandra/news/ultraluminous_pulsar.html#.VDw9KhZH8tk
Could it be one of these?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_star

hellogoodbye, Agent : Blur

(and as Dave Allen used to say, "Thank you, good night, and may your god go with you.")

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

Possible breakthrough on the space elevator?  If so, discovered by accident!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/scientists-might-accidentally-solved-hardest-155000475.html

[area51drone]

Hey guys, touching base with you all again, things are still crazy for me and getting worse! Have not had time to do much of anything online in a while, but I hope to post some long winded rants once I get a chance to catch my breath again.

In the meantime there's always neat stuff going on...
http://www.nasa.gov/chandra/news/ultraluminous_pulsar.html#.VDw9KhZH8tk
Could it be one of these?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_star

Damn you Agent.  You can't even tell us what you're working on without threatening your anonymity, and here we are, all pining to know what great discovery you are in the midst of making...

[Agent : Orange]

Damn you Agent.  You can't even tell us what you're working on without threatening your anonymity, and here we are, all pining to know what great discovery you are in the midst of making...

[Agent : Orange]

Mentioned on the gabCast, the Laniakea supercluster
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140910.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v513/n7516/full/nature13674.html


http://youtu.be/rENyyRwxpHo

[Agent : Orange]

"Astronomers have mapped the cosmic watershed in which our Milky Way Galaxy is a droplet. The massive structure, which the research team dubs the Laniakea Supercluster, extends more than 500 million light-years and contains 100,000 large galaxies."

Laniakea: Our Home Supercluster

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The Milky Way (blue dot, center) lives in the outskirts of Laniakea (orange), a galactic supercluster 520 million light-years across. Galaxies (white dots) flow along streams (white lines) toward a central point.


Laniakea: Our home supercluster

Scooped!!
And that smacks me down for lack of due diligence... I need to study the available literature (ie, this thread) better next time

[Heather Wade]

Mentioned on the gabCast, the Laniakea supercluster
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140910.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v513/n7516/full/nature13674.html


http://youtu.be/rENyyRwxpHo

I'm no astrophysicist, but have always suspected the Milky Way had to be part of a larger structure.  Maybe "structure" is the wrong word.  Whatever, thanks for the post Agent.   

[zeebo]

Scooped!! ...

Haha just keepin' you on your toes.  Btw like you mentioned in the gabcast, the structure is very interesting.  A51d and I were wondering about that big seam between superclusters.  It reminds me of something from plate tectonics.

[Agent : Orange]

Dynomak fusion reactor design
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920379614002518
http://www.washington.edu/news/2014/10/08/uw-fusion-reactor-concept-could-be-cheaper-than-coal/

[Camazotz Automat]

I'm no astrophysicist, but have always suspected the Milky Way had to be part of a larger structure.  Maybe "structure" is the wrong word.  Whatever, thanks for the post Agent.   

It's fractals all the way, baby!  From the smallest structures to the largest structures.... That's my faith and I'm sticking to it.

I was talking to Howard Bloom one night a few years ago... (gratuitous name dropping) and he was theorizing about the possibility of fractals being involved with gravitational theory and quantum mechanics. 

So I told him a joke I made up about gravitonic - - - - - - - and a Mandelbrot -  - - - - - - that I won't repeat here, but it made him laugh quite hard.

What does this mean?

This practically PROVES I could be a stand up comic at a convention full of nerds. I have just enough cred for them to realize I am not a complete jackass.

However, were I to try my glib comments at a local amateur night comedy club, I would be readily crucified.  Pitchforks, torches, the whole storm the castle scenario. 

At which point, I would feel the need to defend myself.

Not a pretty outcome.

Some of the South lacks a sense of humor and is in serious need of a retooling.

How is this post relevant to astrophysics?

It's not.  The exception being my initial comment.

It's fractals.

All. The. Way. Baby.

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[Camazotz Automat]

Speaking of successful or crucified Cams on or off stage, I am fascinated by this one.

The world's longest lasting light bulb on the Livermore's Centennial Light Bulb Cam.

The bulb is on its 113th year.  If that doesn't flick your switch, you're dead to me.

Live web cam feed:

http://www.centennialbulb.org/photos.htm#anchor1234

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[Agent : Orange]

Hope all the North Americans are able to get a pair of eclipse glasses (or other safe viewing device) to watch the solar eclipse coming up on October 23!
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/partial-solar-eclipse-october-23-2014-10062014/

[wr250]

Hope all the North Americans are able to get a pair of eclipse glasses (or other safe viewing device) to watch the solar eclipse coming up on October 23!
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/partial-solar-eclipse-october-23-2014-10062014/

i use a welders helmet to view eclipses , the ones for arc welding, not gas welding.

[Agent : Orange]

[Agent : Orange]

i use a welders helmet to view eclipses , the ones for arc welding, not gas welding.

That's one of the best ways to do it, I think. We are going to get together with a local astronomy group at a park on the day of, they will have glasses and telescopes with filters on them for viewing the Sun.

I hope it's not cloudy!

[zeebo]

... solar eclipse coming up on October 23!

As some inspiration to check it out, here's a pic I took of mini sun crescents filtering through some leaves, seen amongst shadows cast on a wall.  This was from the May 2012 total eclipse.  I had remembered seeing this effect during an eclipse I saw as a kid, but thought maybe I'd imagined it, so this time I took some pics so I'd have proof. 

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[wr250]

here are some i took of a "ring of fire" eclipse through a welders mask :

[area51drone]

We should have some meetups for those of us in this thread in August 2017.  I plan on heading to Oregon that day...

http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/path_through_the_US.htm