Black Holes: A great mystery of the universe

Posted on April 17, 2022 by alexlitt

Black holes are one of the greatest mysteries of our universe. However, using just a few concepts that we have learned in class, we can understand the basic constructs of black holes. A black hole is the result of a single point in space containing extreme mass (this point is called a singularity). Similar to how we observe planets and stars exert gravitational force on nearby objects, a black hole singularity exerts a very strong gravitational force. Additionally, we know that celestial bodies all have unique escape velocities that depend on the bodies force of gravity (which is proportional to M/(R^2)). Escape velocity is the speed which an object must reach in order to escape from a gravitationally bound orbit. Because a black hole singularity is a point of immense mass, it has an extremely high escape velocity at nearby locations in space. What we call a “black hole” is really the spherical area of space in which the escape velocity from the black hole singularity is greater than the speed of light. This means that inside the black hole, no light (or any other particle) can escape. Because no light can escape this sphere of space, the region of space looks completely black to any outside observer. This is why it is called a “black hole.”

Black Hole Visualization

Despite the relatively simple physics that describe the construct of a black hole, there are many aspects of black holes that are still mysteries to even the greatest physicists/astronomers.

  1. We know that “smaller” black holes are formed from the collapse of massive stars (at least 20 times as massive as the Sun). However, it is still unclear what forms the supermassive black holes that exist at the center of every large galaxy in our universe. These supermassive black holes are essential to our universe; yet their origins are quite a mystery.
  2. The physics behind black hole singularities and the points in space very close to black hole singularities are not clear. These singularities seem to be points at which space-time just collapses, but what physical properties govern that collapse, and what this means for the nature of our universe is not known.
  3. If supermassive black holes are at the center of large galaxies and galaxies often orbit in galaxy groups or clusters, might there be “super-super massive black holes” at the center of some large galaxy clusters?
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Blog 6: Planet Nine

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Charles Littleton
Planet Nine Concept from Earth Sky

Planet Nine is a hypothetical planet on the edge of the solar system. Its gravity would explain the weird orbit of objects beyond Neptune. It is predicted to be 5 times the size of Earth. It is assumed to be about 400- AU

The Scientists who created this hypothesis believe that the star formed much closer and was ejected by Saturn or Jupiter. It likely would have become a Gas Giant but it was flung away from the rest of the solar system.

The planet would be hard to find because there is very little light.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Nine#Origin

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blog post 06

Posted on April 17, 2022 by graceward02
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Black Hole Image Makes History

In 2019, researchers captured the first image of a black hole. They were able to do this by having all the major radio telescopes on Earth act together to simulate a radio telescope that was the size of Earth. Before this, we could only see indirect evidence of the existence of black holes. This particular black hole, at the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy, has the mass of 6.5 billion suns. This huge mass is due to the black hole’s gravity that pulls in all surrounding objects. This extremely strong gravity occurs because of how dense the black hole is, with matter being condensed into a relatively small area. Black holes usually form as a consequence of star death and are thought to be at the center of most large galaxies. Because of this, black holes help scientists study galaxies.

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Hot Jupiters: Migration and Orbital Changes

Posted on April 17, 2022 by jordanekstein

Hot Jupiters are gas giants that have orbital periods that are very close to their stars; often less than 10 days. Usually this means they are less than 0.1AU away from their stars which is one tenth the distance between earth and the sun. While scientists originally did not think giant planets could exist this close to a star since finding exoplanets Hot Jupiters have been found in large numbers. This is, in part, due to the fact that they are the easiest type of exoplanet to find with radial velocity (doppler) and the transit method. Scientists are still puzzled by the fact that Hot Jupiters exist as they are to massive to form at the origin of the system as the building blocks needed for it would not be enough at this distance. Some believe this is due to the fact the orbits of Hot Jupiters are excited to a very high eccentricity which causes them to approach the stars so closely that the orbital energy becomes tidally dissipated which shrinks and circulates their orbital pattern over time. Either way, it does seem as though our solar system exists as the anomalies without these Hot Jupiters.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/investigating-the-mystery-of-migrating-hot-jupiters
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blog post 05

Posted on April 17, 2022 by graceward02
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A Place for Pluto by Stef Wade

In 2006, Pluto was taken off the list of planets, leaving our Solar System with just 8 planets. This demotion occurred 76 years after Pluto was initially added to the list of planets. This decision by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined what objects could be classified as a planet. An object needs to be round, orbiting the Sun, and not have neighboring planetary objects/debris that follow its orbit.

After Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet, there was public uproar. To this day, there is still debate about whether Pluto is a planet. Many unofficial polls indicate that the public largely thinks about Pluto as the ninth planet in our Solar System. Some scientists agree, citing that there was already a working definition of a planet: any geologically active bodies in space. They believe that the new definition defined by the IAU opposes the working definition scientists have been using for centuries. According to planetary physicist Philip Metzger, this would mean our Solar System would likely hold over 150 planets.

What do you think? Should Pluto be a planet again?

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Are Wormholes Possible?

Posted on April 17, 2022 by jschorr21
wormhole(Science News)

What is a wormhole? A wormhole is a theoretical bridge joining two points in space-time that would create shortcuts for extremely long journeys throughout the universe. Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen back in 1935 came up with the idea and concluded that due to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, wormholes could exist. He concluded that the same way large objects make dimples in the fabric of spacetime, a large enough “dimple” could break through and create a wormhole. So the laws of physics support the fact that wormholes COULD exist, but it doesn’t mean they actually do. One theory for why we haven’t seen them is that they hide behind black holes. This theory claims that a wormhole would have a black hole at each end. There are definitely problems with the wormhole theory as we really don’t know enough about it. This could definitely change at some point as we are constantly gaining new information about the universe. For example, no one thought black holes were possible until ~70 years ago.

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Fun Facts about Pluto

Posted on April 17, 2022 by jschorr21
Pluto
  • Pluto was discovered by the Lowell Observatory in 1930
  • From then until 2006, it was considered a planet, now it is considered a ‘dwarf planet’
  • During these 76 years, it only completed 1/3 of its orbit
  • Pluto was named by an 11-year-old girl
  • Pluto is the name of the Roman god governing the underworld
  • Pluto is only slightly larger than Eris, the second-largest dwarf planet
  • Although most think of Pluto as further than Neptune, it is sometimes closer to the Sun due to its high orbital eccentricity/inclination
  • Pluto only has an atmosphere some of the time: when it is closer to the sun and the surface ice can evaporate
  • Pluto contains more water than earth. This is due to the water ice that covers the planet
  • There is a huge liquid water ocean under Pluto’s surface
  • Pluto is ‘volcanically active in its own way. They call it “cryovolcanism”.
  • Glaciers carve valleys into Pluto’s surface consistantly
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The Artemis Moon Rocket (Post 6)

Posted on April 17, 2022 by ccatanese1
Source: Space

NASA has continued ground tests this week for the Artemis I mega moon rocket. The rocket encountered a hydrogen leak on Thursday so it seems like there is still some improvements that must be made until the rocket is ready to be launched. The Artemis mission manager said that all of the problems that the rocket has had are “procedural and lessons learned“. This mission is particularly important for the history and the future of space travel as it is meant to land the first person of color as well as the first woman on the moon by 2025. The Artemis I mega moon rocket could also teach humans a lot about the moon and the reasons behind the differences between the craters on the near side and the far side of the moon.

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The Great Dark Spot

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Karan Bhardwaj

Jupiter’s ‘Great Red Spot’ is extremely famous, and it is very easily distinguishable when viewing Jupiter. However, there also exists another Great Spot, this time on Neptune: The Great Dark Spot.

Neptune’s Great Dark Spot. Taken at a distance of 2.8 million km.

It is similar to the Great Red Spot as it is a result of a anticyclonic storm, however the storms on Neptune do not last as long. The clouds are formed of frozen methane, a stark contrast from crystals of ice present on Earth. At the edges of the storm, winds can move up to 1300 mph, the fastest recorded winds in the solar system. Neptune’s atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium at the highest altitudes, and at lower altitudes, carbon-having molecules such as ethane and carbon dioxide appear. The planet’s thermosphere is unusually warm at 750 K, which may be a cause for the extremely fast winds seen on Neptune.

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Planet 9 (Post 5)

Posted on April 17, 2022 by ccatanese1
Source: scienceABC

The Kuiper Belt is a doughnut shaped group of ice, rock, comets, and dwarf planets, beyond Neptune. There have been discussion recently about whether there is a ninth planet within the Kuiper Belt. These discussions began back in 1846 after the discovery of Neptune, but they became more focused when it was discovered that the axis of the Sun as well as some smaller bodies within our Solar System appeared to be influenced by an undiscovered force. There is a debate as to whether these influences are a result of one large object or simply a large cluster within the Kuiper Belt. While there is not a clear solution to the possible existence of Planet 9, more studies on the Kuiper Belt can lead to new information regarding our Solar System and its formation.

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