Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Wondering about wandering black holes.

Sometimes real life and real science can be scarier than in fiction.  Let's take black holes for example.  Most of the Sci-Fi movies about black holes are so inaccurate and far fetched that little truth seems to show itself anywhere in the show.  We have a huge giant of a black hole in the center of our galaxy.  I am sure it helps hold our galaxy together and without it, we may have never had the chance to be here.

True to their name, we can not see them unless they are feeding or from the affect they have on their surroundings.  Not all black holes are in the center of galaxies and not all are huge giants, but they all are heavyweights, for sure.  In fact they are so heavy and dense that even light can not escape their gravity, that is why they are called "black holes".  I saw a show on one of the science channels about them and it said that there were a lot of lone black holes wandering through the universe.  They are invisible to us unless they get close enough to something for their gravity to affect them.  One of these lone wanders could sneak quietly into our solar system and since most of our solar system is empty space, the chance of it interacting with something is rather slim.  But, it would surely find itself to the center where our sun lives.  If that happens, that black hole would find a real feast and would feed off our sun for many, many years.  This would not be a good thing, for sure, as our sun would grow smaller as the black hole grows larger.  I will leave the rest of this story to your imagination, but I would think it would not have a happy ending.  Astronomers believe that there are a lot of these small wandering black holes out there that were created by large dying stars.  If the star is not big enough to form a black hole it would create a neutron star and I wouldn't want one of those getting too close to our solar system, either.  The night sky is beautiful but there are dangers out there also.  Now, if you can, have a good day, you hear?

7 comments:

  1. Yep, it's a dangerous universe and we are lucky to be here.

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  2. I watch the Science Channel a lot, but sometimes it's downright scary.

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  3. Sixbears, and we think there is a lot of violence here on Earth. Wow, there is a lot more out in the universe.

    Gypsy, you bet it is, but I love it.

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  4. My mind is numb,,,lol. Just gimme stars..

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  5. You have echoed almost the exact words that I have heard my father say about black holes. Interesting stuff to ponder on.

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  6. Never fear. Bruce Willis and the Armageddon crew will take care of it. ;)

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  7. Trouble, just look up on a clear nite and you will see lots of stars.

    Jill, your father is a smart man. Yes, it is very interesting and a little scary.

    David, oh yea, I saw that movie.

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