LAST GASP: The swirling disk of matter falling into a black hole radiates intensely and shoots high-speed bursts of plasma back into the galaxy.
In Brief
- Black holes, such as the four-million-solar-mass lurker at the center of our galaxy, are not simply consumers. They also radiate copious amounts of energy as they devour nearby matter.
- A black hole's feeding habits can have a surprising influence on the galaxy. Too much black hole activity, or too little, and stars with the right conditions for life as we know it could be scarce.
- The Milky Way occupies a galactic sweet spot, with a black hole that appears to act out just often enough to stir things up and keep the galaxy's stellar population at a perfect simmer.
- The connection between black holes and life is complex, but our galaxy's central black hole seems to have made numerous contributions to our ability to exist at this place and time.
More In This Article
Adapted from Gravity’s Engines: How Bubble-Blowing Black Holes Rule Galaxies, Stars, and Life in the Cosmos, by Caleb Scharf, by arrangement with Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC (US), Penguin Press (UK), Hayakawa Shobo (Japan) and Prószy´nski (Poland). Copyright © 2012 by Caleb Scharf.
Our existence in this place, this microscopic corner of the cosmos, is fleeting. with utter disregard for our wants and needs, nature plays out its grand acts on scales of space and time that are truly hard to grasp. Perhaps all that we can look to for real solace is our endless capacity to ask questions and seek answers about the place we find ourselves in. One of the questions we are now asking is how deeply our specific circumstances are connected to this majestic universal scheme of stars, galaxies and black holes.
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Add CommentIt is understood that most of the large galaxies are having some SMBHs at their center. These SMBHs might also be shaping their respective galaxies to have life in at least one corner in those galaxies. Billion of galaxies and million of isolated cornered spaces in each galaxy. Out of these billions of cornered spaces, will nature allow life in one corner of MW only? Could nature play in such an exceptional abnormal manner
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy special article related with this issue titling "Nature Knowledge emmitted right from hypermassive Black Hole at the center of our Galaxy within Universe of three fabrics (Matter–Energy–Nature Knowledge) : The needs to issue New (2012)Copernican Principle", could be read at http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/nature-knowledge-emmitted-right-from-hypermassive-black-hole-at-t?xg_source=activity
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article on Black Holes is very interesting.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHowever, I am insulted by the elementary school language used in this article in particular. After all, this IS Scientific American Magazine, you know.
For instance,
(1) black holes DO NOT eat anything, they just accrete matter.
(2) black holes do not "squawk."
(3) matter is not "fed" into black holes, it just falls in there.
(4) black holes do not "digest" anything.
(5) black holes do not "devour" anything.
It may be argued that this type of symbolism is only used to describe difficult concepts.
However, it is clear to me that the origin and evolution of Life and even Humanity, is devoutly believed by secular folks to be entirely naturalistic, even though many such people have argued to me that "evolution" has nothing to do with the origin of life, rather, only "natural selection" and "the survival of the fittest."
It is obvious that secular folks believe that the Universe has evolved automatically, the whole way from the "big bang" to the present. That concept, I believe, can be proven scientifically false.
For instance, did anyone ever find a code or language that bubbled out of some warm mud puddle? The existence of the 4 bit Genetic Codes upon which all of life depends, fairly shouts for the existence of an Author.
Also, if the big bang was only energetic enough to create Hydrogen, Helium and a little bit of Lithium, why should we imagine that puny supernovas could generate all the other heavier elements?
You can believe whatever you want, but every intelligent and honest person knows that there is no such thing as a language or code in the absence of an Intelligent Author, no matter how great or small that intelligence may be.
Just because the Bible identifies the Author, some would deny the work of the Creator God just on that basis alone.
Very unfortunate!
I agree whole heartedly. A black hole is abiotic, meaning it's not alive, so really, it can't eat anything.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow that we're on the subject of black holes, this is good a time as any to propose a question in the form of a thought experiment. Suppose our planet and surrounding space we observe through telescopes is *within* or *on the edge of* a expansive event horizon of a enormous black hole, so massive that from our perspective, its surface forms a "wall" (metaphorically speaking of course) that is somewhere outside the (presently observable) known universe?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow in this scenario, wouldn't astronomers observe a distorted view of our universe? The laws of physics could be "different" outside this observable universe within the massive event horizon proposed in the previous paragraph.
The article begins "Our existence in this place, this microscopic corner of the cosmos, is fleeting. with utter disregard for our wants and needs, nature plays out its grand acts on scales of space and time that are truly hard to grasp."
In the scenario I'm proposing, true physics would be impossible to grasp. The only hope of escaping the confines of this "closed space" (albeit large, considering the size of the known universe) is to tunnel out. Tunnel to *where* is another question.
Otherwise we are trapped on a world which exists in a visible universe (as it exists from our perspective) that could abruptly end after abruptly falling into this massive black hole. (Time is relative and becomes increasingly unstable, perhaps with billions of years passing a split second in a grander scheme where such a massive black hole resides, at least from our miniscule perspective.)
I challenge anyone who is a physicist here to explain, at least peripherally and hopefully with seriousness, if you see fallacies in this "thought experiment"? Is it valid reasoning, even if a question genuinely impossible to definitively answer? Or are there laws of physics that would dismiss it forthright? I don't think this question is on par with "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" No such foolishness is intended.
For instance, I'm not aware that a black hole is limited in size; and I understand if a black hole is big enough and far enough away, our galaxy could exist inside its event horizon, or at the edge of its event horizon. Billions of years relatively speaking could pass because time is only a paradigm measured by conscious intelligent forms of life. Processes move differently on such a grand unfathomable scale.
Возможно в начале была мысль(информация),вторым был способ передачи информации который одновременно являлся информацией.Возможно миры всех других измерений мы видим как чёрную материю а чёрные дыры это место перехода вселенных из одного измерения в другое.Возможно материя видимой вселенной во время перехода из одного измерения в другое преобразуется в информационно-световой поток.При материализации вселенной из информационно-светового потока в новом измерении происходит расширение согласно сохранённой информации,но в варианте нового измерения.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI offer here, Bing Translator's English translation of the comment by Knyaz:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Perhaps in the beginning was the idea of (information), the second was a way to pass information which simultaneously was Possibly the worlds information. all other dimensions we see as a dark matter and black holes is a place of transition from one measurement in the universe more. Matter may be the visible universe during the transition from one measurement to another is converted into information and luminous flux in the materialization of the universe of luminous flux in a new dimension is increasing according to stored information but in the new dimension."
Reply to "Eyes Wide Open"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYour comment seems to imply that a black hole is really a hole with some space for objects to exist and operate inside.
I have always understood that black holes are the most dense objects possible, and that there is NO possibility of anything surviving inside a black hole, not even atoms. Everything is crushed right down to the most elementary particles. There is no Time and no Space, but only Matter.
Since I am not a physicist, that is my simplistic understanding. Is it seriously in error?
I'd like to clarify my comment above.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this• Our work driven by Nature Knowledge Theory (NKT) and Human System Biology-based Knowledge Management (HSBKM) model as its derivative. NKT featured as the origin of nature consciousness which is the attribute of Nature Knowledge. The prominent paradigm here saying that human Mind Brain is not the source and center of consciousness but Nature Knowledge is. The later is the psycho aspect of Universe considered us to issue the “New (2012) Copernican Principle” to complementing the “Old (1542) Copernican Principle” which was only giving somato (physical body) aspect of the Universe. In nutshell we look the Universe as a psycho somatic and animate structure
• To take into account, our Universe has three fabrics, Matter – Energy – Nature Knowledge, therefore within NKT our comprehensive HSBKM model could be supposed as a high-end of Universe evolution. Our postulate “we are KM regulated by Nature, and by nature we are KM model” giving confidence on that high-end structure. Further we did reverse engineering act by Inverted Paradigm Method (IPM). We developed operational variables applied to HSBKM model and come up with discovery some theoretical constructs of Physics namely Theoretical Physics up to quantum level
• One of our interesting finding is proposing Knowon, the 5th fundamental force mass less particle which is independent to SpaceTime (IST) representing psycho consciousness mediating aspect altogether with Graviton, the 4th force as somato mediating mass less particle becoming duo-entity-force (DEF) superposed boson particle. We believed that DEF is the real sought Higgs boson
• Therefore DEF is Nature Knowledge emmitted right from hypermassive Black Hole at the center of our Galaxy within Universe of three fabrics (Matter – Energy – Nature Knowledge) and giving huge and broad purposes as Nature DNA including revealing the domain of Dark Matter and Dark Energy
• For further story of this piece, should you visit http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/nature-knowledge-emmitted-right-from-hypermassive-black-hole-at-t (Have an attention to the Attachment!)
I really like the comments that have been posted so far and actually am working on a cosmological theory that answers some of these questions. The personification used in describing black holes does have some merit though. Food could be thought of as a phenomenon with a certain informational structure that when devoured is digested to its most basic parts. But when this occurs where does it go. I particularly like the translation by quizzical of kynaz's comment. At the very basis everything is information, and laws governing its transfer, and I provide a framework for how this all equates to there being observable phenomena at all in my cosmological theory.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/irwitte/an-amateurs-cosmological-theory-of-everything
quizzical,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWho or what created your "Intelligent Author"? Where did your "Intelligent Author" come from? Did your "Intelligent Author" evolve? Did your "Intelligent Author" have a beginning?
This is a response to comment 8 by quizzical. The nature of a black hole according to most physicists I've heard describing them is a singularity. This singularity is incredibly massive and dense but the term boils down to them admitting they really have no idea. Looking at the standard two dimensional representation of gravity with the bowling ball on a mattress causing an indentation you could postulate that there is in fact quite a bit of extremely stretched space-time within the black hole's event horizon. In the two dimensional representation of the mattress, the depth of the indentation could be incredibly deep depending on the mass of the bowling ball with a relatively small footprint of the event horizon. Kinda hard to describe exactly without an illustration but basically it has to do with relativity and scaling. Though a black hole's event horizon may have a foot print of only say 20 miles across, due to special relativity, it could contain lightyears of deformed space and even its own laws of physics due to the extreme conditions of the "singularity."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is assuming that all the information remains in sync with our own 4 dimensional frame of reference. In my theory of Relativistic Entanglement I outline how I believe black holes work and its quite a bit different then anything I've heard elsewhere. It's a completely new theoretical framework that explains not only how mass arises but seeks to explain black holes, dark matter, dark energy, virtual particles, and basically everything.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/irwitte/an-amateurs-cosmological-theory-of-everything
To quizzical 4) and Cramer (11)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCramer has raised many queries regarding intelligent author. Who created ? Has intelligent author some begining? From where intelligent author emerged out?
There is no necessity that intelligent author may be created by some one. Intelligent author exist by virtue of its existence. On the contrary, existence of entire universe is contingent upon the existence of intelligent author. Since it is not created, it will also not be destroyed. Only those existences have begining or end which operate within space - time. Since intelligent author is out of space-time, so there should be no question of its begining or end.
Intelligent author is not the effect of any other external cause. All the chain of cause-effect relation terminate at the level of intelligent author. Intelligent author itself is immutable but becomes the FIRST cause for entire universe ranging from an atom to a galaxy cluster. From the level of intelligent author -- two conscious streams emerge out at the time of creation. One stream provides motion to all the matter and energy. In another stream "intelligence" part for the design of universe remains hidden. This stream is more fundamental than even stream providing motion. This streams fixes design of universe, directs and shapes of the universe. This stream is permeated in each and every corner of universe. Actually, it is not the stream which is permeated in the universe but it is the universe which is permeated in stream.
Intelligent stream emerges out from a boundless ocean of consciousness. where is that? In each and every corner of universe. . One part of that intelligent stream gets manifested in living beings. In human beings, its manifestation is in the highest degree. The way it shapes and directs evolution of universe at macro level, it also directs and shapes the evolution of human biology and mental development.
Modern Science is not more than about 300 years old. But various mystical and spiritual schools ( of most of the religions) of thought have dwelt over a conscious stream since millennia. Countless people have experienced, studied and described intelligent author since thousand of years.
Intelligence of intelligence author, as implicit in the conscious stream, gets manifested in physical laws.
Now it is for the intelligence of a person to decide : Whether super super design of universe ( human beings can not even fathom) is due to some intelligence entity or does it comes at its own from random.
Further to 13
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow in the modern era, when boundaries between science and spirituality are crumbling, some people with scientific bent of mind, are making endeavour to evolve scientific theories which are incorporating intelligent streams in their theories.Under comment 9 of this article, moesd has indicated that he has evolved Nature Knowledge Theory (NKT) under which they have proposed a particle Knowon. These ideas or concepts are akin to conscious stream about which various spiritual and mystical schools of thought have been describing since millennia. But will Science be ever able to know about conscious stream empirically. I do not think so. Reason? Yet, even nature is not fully known.There are many layers of nature, contained one within other like layers of an onion, which are unknown to Science. Physical world which we observe and which Physicists have studied in detail is the grossest and outermost layer of nature and this layer represent a small slice of total nature. Ocean of consciousness starts where all the layers of nature end
“The Benevolence of Black Holes” raises the question of what I call the anthropic fallacy. This fallacy can only be entertained if one believes that “life” is special and unique. The fallacy says that it is remarkable that conditions in our particular corner of the universe, and/or the physical laws of the universe as a whole, happen to be of a kind that have conspired, if you will, to support “life.” Common sense surely indicates the opposite belief—that life is a natural outgrowth of conditions that pre-existed it in this particular corner of the universe, the only place we know, so far, where it exists. The implication then is that other forms of “advanced” intelligence might exist elsewhere in the universe, or even right here, that owe their existence and high state of advancement, whether “lifelike” or not, to an entirely different set of physical qualities and criteria than those which define what we call “life.” It is only an anthropocentric conceit that asserts that intelligent beings cannot exist unless they share fundamental similarities to human life. Perhaps the reason why “aliens” are so elusive is because they don’t possess human traits, particular faculties, or the interface capabilities required for us to perceive their existence.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRWitte wrote, "[a black hole] could contain lightyears of deformed space."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI've long disliked the bowling ball on a trampoline (or mattress) analogy. My conceptional view of gravity and the "bending" of space might be wrong and I am open to corrections. I see gravity as contracting space which is the opposite of dark energy expanding space. Therefore the gravity well conceptional diagram appears to be stretching space and not shrinking space. Shrinking space should bring you closer to the mass; stretching space (like a rubber band or rubber sheet) would take you further away from the mass. That is, if space is "disappearing" between you and an object, you will "fall" toward it.
Our definition of life and intelligence are based purely upon life/intelligence we observe in one desolate corner in universe. Knowledge of Science with some fair degree of certainty does not extends beyond even our solar system. Our solar system, when compared with even our MW galaxy (not to talk of observable universe), does not compares in size even with a grain of sand in a large desert There is no end to the dimensions of time at both ends. Knowledge of Science about universe comes primarily from the study of light signals which propagates from past billion of years ago thru vast territory running into billion of light years. Interpretation of observations is done based upon deductive logic which itself is a construct of mind and can lead to wrong conclusions. In these scenarios, It is beyond human capacity to assert whether anthropic principle is applicable or not.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNevertheless, Understanding of Science about life particularly intelligence life is very much rudimentary and based upon same physical paradigm which deal with a rock (matter) or sunshine (energy) This is the biggest fallacy of Science to deal human beings (life) and a rock (matter) on equal footing and seek their origin from same source. If a normal query is raised : In the grand scheme of universe creation (whether with some intelligent design or without design from random), whether matter/energy have been designed for human beings OR human beings are to serve some purpose to matter/energy. Undoubtedly, most of the people with some common sense and rational approach, unless a person is not strongly biased towards pure materialistc origin of life in some warm mud puddle, shall respond that it is the matter/energy which have been designed for intelligent life (human beings). There does not appears to any limits of the vastness of universe. Scientists say there may be 200-400 billion of stars in MW alone. They have mapped up to 100 billion of galaxies. Human imagination, however fertile it may be, can not fathom these numbers. If grand scheme of universe allows matter/energy for intelligence beings, as the common sense demands, will this scheme be so imperfect that life may emerge out in only one very very small corner of universe? Common sense and rationality demands that almost 99.999999999...of universe can not be barren and apart from earth, life either in current form at earth or in some other form should also appear in may corners of universe. Current inability of Science should not lead to inference that life does exist at earth only
Replying to Cramer (11)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMany folks imagine that the Creator God needs a prior creator. This notion simply underlines the fact that folks try to make God in their humanistic mold. That can not realistically be done. God is completely outside Time and Space. He created it by his Word.
Just because my gold fish can not comprehend trigonometry, in no way negates the fact that trigonometry exists or works very well.
God tells us in His Word that he is from everlasting to everlasting. I can't really get my head around that concept and neither can you. We humans must accept or reject that by faith.
It is a little like evolutionists accepting the notion that Life just self-assembled in some ancient, warm mud puddle. They really have no clue. They simply have to believe it too.
If you are serious, check out the following website:
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/who_created_god.html
There is a lot of real truth to be found there.
What a lot of wasted breath, about an invisible entity that can't possibly exist and is totally unneccessary anyway. You can keep your gravity holes - I prefer clean, predictable, measurable, reproducible electricity! At least we've figured out those laws and don't need to keep making exceptions, for the sake of a creaking Standard Model.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSorry Quizzical, I wasn't talking about Him, up there. Just the imaginery SMB. If God invented Black Holes then I'd give up my faith and look for Someone with a bit of engineering sense!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this.....while I was only able to take a brief glance at this issue, I saw NO acknowledgement of the man who singularly advanced the premise it presents, that of a black hole at the center of galaxies. His name is Nassim Haramein and the work he's done to solidify Einstein's Unified Field Theory but, what's more, give it far more broader MEANING, is unparalleled. If I'm right, such a gross oversight is just typical empirical closemindedness.....I invite those who recoil at that characterization as not being reflective of them, to view Haramein's astonishing DVD Black Whole and open themselves to an understanding, a context that mainstream science in the 21st century is simply NOT capable of providing.....one other thing: as Haramein discovered, there is a very detectable, ordered pattern of behavior, organization throughout the universe and matter does NOT simply 'fall in' to black holes; rather, it is perpetually cycled, in and out.....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this.....we'll see if you're so contemptuous when the first LENR plant goes online next year, Cigar.....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLike every galaxie, cell, molecule, quark, planet, moon or star incorporates a black hole at its nucleus. Instigated reactions to a black hole produce its atomic reactions.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisINSTIGATED REACTION is the black hole’s intake or its nutritional feeding of Bruce’s Stuph.
Like all cells etc, our Sun spews its info cells or atomic energy. This energy atomically interacts creating heat, creating light with most of what it encounters, the smallness of Bruce’s Stuph (dark matter) being one exception.
From this encounter or collision, created light feeds on the Aura or Info Cells (Bruce’s Stuph) of what it has come in contact with. Using this continuous magnetic energy connection, info cells of Earth are affectively transported to the sun to be used as nutrition or fuel of its black hole. This of course means we’re no longer #1 on the food chain!
Our sun is a cold, cold activated black hole. It appears to us as being hot and bright but it is not. What we observe as a fiery object is in fact collision or reaction between the force emitting from this black hole and the accumulation of packed STUPH – the sun’s digestive system if you like.
When you stand back from a fire you no longer feel its heat. The sun being no exception; we do not receive heat and light from the sun’s outer fire!
If we could see into the center of the Earth it would appear to us as being hollow (black hole). It’s the same for all cells of matter.
The Earth’s digestive system is that of the sun’s, the difference being size, speed and quantity. To explain these statements multiply the heat and light of just one meteor (shooting star).
Go out on a dark, starry night; every star that you can see is producing food (dark matter) that feeds our Earth’s black hole! The energy created from this food is like any other cell and spews from its poles. Our Earth’s atmosphere, including everything out from its black hole, has and is being created from this energy! A black God if you like!
PS -- Nutrition is the aura or spirit of food
Personally I find this sentence in Scientific American to be offensive ‘We simply exist in a universe that has the conditions that allow for the phenomenon of life—there is nothing special about it. It is just an island that has the right climate’
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLets be honest, all science can ever do is fail to write the instruction manual for an intelligent system that it has no hope of ever understanding. This system is already created and continues to create and recreate itself without any help from the intellectually cognisant. One of the supposed greatest achievements of modern science is to locate what the discipline refers to a ‘the god’ particle. Science in itself has no intelligence, it is merely the construct of those who have the academic capacity to study it. To give science more importance than this would mean calling these few talented individuals ‘God’ which would be Scientism gone mad.
More on this thinking on the blog below- please comment on the blog
http://josephbray.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/black-holes-to-the-rescue/
I'm (still) not a physicist, but I'll comment anyway...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI especially relate to your statement, "... Now in this scenario, wouldn't astronomers observe a distorted view of our universe?"
It occurs to me that the development of the expanding universe may exhibit some of characteristics of an inverted black hole, a 'white hole' that may be/have been rapidly rotating as the universe is dispersed around it. In that case, wouldn't all spacetime be universally distorted, or curved, providing us with a distorted perspective of the universe around us, especially as we look back towards its origins, where its curvature and expansion velocity would have been greatest?
Perhaps this distorted perspective is the reason for our interpretation of distant/ancient conditions that seem to indicate that expansion is accelerating, rather than decelerating as had been and should be expected, based on the fundamental laws of physics...
I think I agree - if our perspective of the universe as we approach the event horizon of a black hole might be quite different from our current perspective, if universal spacetime is proportionally inversely distorted as we recede from some originating event, or perspective might be quite different from the straightforward interpretation that we now imagine.