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1169
1170

Via NASA: Star + Black Hole (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by dragonworthy

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[–]TrololoTrol 235 points236 points ago

So I guess NASA has gone from space exploration to artistic renditions of things from space.

[–]InvalidWhistle 67 points68 points ago

NASA went down hill after we went to the moon.

[–]DrBlaBlason 114 points115 points ago

NASA went downhill after the government stopped funding its programs.

[–]wyratt 24 points25 points ago

Hard to fund programs with imaginary negative money.

[–]Prplcheez 13 points14 points ago

Isn't that how every government program is funded these days?

[–]Pwag 26 points27 points ago

So instead of dumping imaginary negative money into NASA and furthering mankind's reach into the cosmos, went to the middle east and killed some brown people instead.

[–]Notyourfaja 5 points6 points ago

And bailed out the banks.

[–]Pwag 1 point2 points ago

Oh I forgot that bit of "necessary" spending.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]Pwag 2 points3 points ago

You poor bastards.

I work in state government, that huge wastefulness thing isn't rare. Unfortunately.

[–]auxiliary-character 1 point2 points ago

Easy: Multiply it by equal imaginary positive money.

[–]tgDoctor 1 point2 points ago

You fool! That would put us in more debt by a power of 2! We would have to multiply it by more negative money to end up positive.

[–]auxiliary-character 0 points1 point ago

Nope.

[–]Fifamaster 41 points42 points ago

neil degrasse tyson for president?

[–]awannabetroll 13 points14 points ago

Not trying to be a jerk here. What exactly would us on earth gain from further funding of NASA?

[–]povacado 6 points7 points ago

Really reddit? He asks a relevant question and he gets downvotes?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQhNZENMG1o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl07UfRkPas

Watch these. Should help answer your question.

[–]lookieausername 1 point2 points ago

Alien contact in 50 years when nobody gives a damn anymore? Or maybe a moon colony like whatshisface said he'd build if he became president? Or space travel for all? Or cool ray guns from space? Or a chunk of rock from saturn's asteroid field?

[–]ArcanumIE 4 points5 points ago

Well considering the shit hole earth is bound to become, we need to look into ways to guarantee that the human race continues. Not to mention the various discoveries that are achieved by seeing things in space (Bucky ball carbon chains for example) that could potentially be applied to earth.

[–]boodead -4 points-3 points ago

Yeah... Personally I think this shit hole of a race either needs to accept survival of the fittest or just die off already. We've pretty much destroyed this planet.

[–]bacardee 4 points5 points ago

they were funding it?

[–]TheGreatSzalam 0 points1 point ago

Where did you think all that money came from?

[–]WendyLRogers3 1 point2 points ago

NASA went downhill after the government stopped funding its reinvention of the wheel. For the nth time. The time has come for somebody to do something practical in space, not just entertaining. What could be more boring and practical than sending nuclear powered tunneling robots to the Moon? How very not NASA.

[–]eduardog3000 0 points1 point ago

Why aren't they doing practical things? Because practical things cost money and take time, and Congressmen only want to fund things that gets them money fast.

[–]redwormcharlie 0 points1 point ago

NASA can't afford the gas to go down hill. They've decided to remain stranded.

[–]InvalidWhistle -4 points-3 points ago

But really though, should they have had to in the first place. I like the idea of space exploration but I think we are leap frogging and not trying hard enough and spending enough funds on other things more locally first. But the cost is also too high for most to all independent private business captains. It would almost have to be a conglomerate of wealthy owners. Which is in fact what is being done now with some of the touristy space trips being offered for what is it $50,000,00?!

[–]Pwag -1 points0 points ago

You're part of the One Happy Planet movement aren't you?

edit No one, NO one realized this was a SciFi reference to a a Philip K Dick story? Usually these obscure things get at least one nod

[–]InvalidWhistle 1 point2 points ago

I am part of no movement, just smart enough to know there's no intelligent reason to spend billions of dollars to go out into the vast emptiness of space just to bring back some pretty pictures...

[–]Pwag 0 points1 point ago

There's a hugely intelligent reason to spend billions of dollars to go out into the vast emptiness of space to bring back pretty pictures.

Because we can, and it's there to be explored.

[–]InvalidWhistle 0 points1 point ago

What a waste! Probably why this 1st world country is mocked by even 3rd world countries.

[–]Pwag 0 points1 point ago

Yeah, whatever flat-earther.

[–]InvalidWhistle 0 points1 point ago

Wow, so because I can think of almost an infinite number of better things to spend a billion dollars on annually instead of taking pretty pictures of space, I'm a *flat earther"? Ha ok, thanks for the laugh..

[–]KojakMoment 1 point2 points ago

How else would they have gotten themselves back to earth?

[–]InvalidWhistle 0 points1 point ago

Ha, that's pretty fucking witty.

[–]Calsun 0 points1 point ago

was just about to say... nope this isnt from NASA, it's from some artist somewhere.

[–]dragonworthy[S] 35 points36 points ago

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/astro-e2/news/gx339.html

[–]onasti 6 points7 points ago

It literally says it's an illustration under the picture...

[–]takisback 3 points4 points ago

The OP literally never said it was an actual picture.

[–]sit_I_piz 3 points4 points ago

I can literally see myself in my shoes

[–]spottedmilkslices 0 points1 point ago

Wait, who wants to see something OTHER than an actual picture from NASA?

[–]polysemous_entelechy 1 point2 points ago

wait, who thought a black hole actually glows?

[–]SirScrumALot 0 points1 point ago

not sure, but i think it's the disk of dense gas. "At its brightest, GX 339-4's X-rays can be traced to within about 20 miles of the black hole."

[–]polysemous_entelechy 1 point2 points ago

yeah... I guess I just like writing provocative stuff before reading up on the subject myself. I'll go stand in the corner over there.

[–]mike_ant 1 point2 points ago

thanks for source. I learned a lot from that.

[–]ItsPrisonTime 49 points50 points ago

Via Soundgarden: BLACK HOLE SUN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbBbFH9fAg

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points ago

In my eyes!

[–]Electro_Syphilis 4 points5 points ago

Indisposed, in disguise as no one knows!

[–]Commisar_Chronic 0 points1 point ago

Hides the face, lies the snake.

[–]UKMansonite -1 points0 points ago

And the sun in my disgrace.

[–]unclever 13 points14 points ago

Wu Tang Clan ain't nothin' to fuck with.

[–]Commisar_Chronic 1 point2 points ago

If you want beef, than bring the ruckus!

[–]svrtngr 1 point2 points ago

Boiling heat, summer stench!

[–]wade_station 0 points1 point ago

I vote this as the new Bohemian Rhapsody.

[–]soulbend 0 points1 point ago

Thanks. Anything to get Rock Lobster out of my head.

[–]evilted 1 point2 points ago

Anything to get Rock Lobster out of my head

Nearly impossible, sad to say. "There goes a narwhal! Here comes a bikini whale!"

[–]Epithemus 3 points4 points ago

New album this fall!

[–]b_deam 0 points1 point ago

oh yes, saw them live at Lollapalooza 2 years ago. good shit

[–]Schmackadoodle 3 points4 points ago

Nickelodeon

[–]basiamille 2 points3 points ago

Strictly speaking...

[–]snorkle256 3 points4 points ago

Looks like Via Imgur to me!

[–]ForgetMeWhenImGone 2 points3 points ago

NASA: National Association of Space Art.

[–]Dirante 2 points3 points ago

I know this is just an illustration but Is it even possible to take a picture of a black hole? I thought they sucked up all the light.

[–]Number127 2 points3 points ago

They do, but there are ways to "see" them.

First, a lot of black holes have a very turbulent region surrounding them, full of bits of debris smashing into each other as it gradually gets pulled in. This can be very bright (so bright it can radiate X-rays) and it's probably what this illustration is trying to convey.

And second, black holes suck in light that gets too close, but they also distort the light that doesn't quite get close enough to get trapped. Their gravity acts like a lens, and if it passed in front of something it might look something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y30bsSuTAIo.

[–]ouestlasouris 1 point2 points ago

Ah come on. The caption under the picture you posted states ILLUSTRATED here.

Don't mess around like that, it's so disappointing after you get hyped up. :(

[–]Efful 1 point2 points ago

Why would the star be attracted to the outer rim of the disc? Wouldn't it be stretched out towards the center mass of the hole?

[–]Ragnrok 1 point2 points ago

Correct me if I'm wrong, but unless the perspective is wacky isn't the event horizon of that black hole downright enormous?

[–]Garglemesh113 1 point2 points ago

Someone detonated the red matter.

[–]CrackersInMyCrack 1 point2 points ago

Can someone explain why the rings around the black hole are still emitting light? Is there fusion still happening at that point?

[–]Number127 1 point2 points ago

It's called an accretion disc. It's basically a bunch of gas, dust, and debris gradually spiraling into the black hole. All the friction heats it up until it's incredibly bright.

[–]rabidnz 1 point2 points ago

fake

[–]ConnorBoyd 1 point2 points ago

Needs redshift and light-bending

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

Aperture Science, what have you done?

[–]Leadbaptist 9 points10 points ago

Hold up, is that a real picture?

[–]UNHDude 49 points50 points ago

That would be cool, but I'm pretty sure it's an illustration. You'd need a crazy huge telescope to get an image like that of another star.

[–]centurijon 8 points9 points ago

And I doubt that they could be orbiting that close.

Think of how far Jupiter has to be from the sun to have a stable orbit, then scale it up to a black hole & the sun.

[–]FairleighBuzzed 8 points9 points ago

close is a pretty relative term

[–]Michichael 0 points1 point ago

This system would work with a difference of about a hundred AU...Seems reasonable for it to have a binary cataclysmic variable system configuration.

[–]centurijon 3 points4 points ago

3/4 through my work day. My brain understands your individual words but is having trouble seeing how they work together like that.

[–]Michichael 1 point2 points ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_variable_star

Normally it's associated with a white dwarf and another star that keeps going half-nova. In this case, it's a star that went full nova and collapsed to a black hole, and the other star is feeding it.

[–]b0w3n 0 points1 point ago

I'd imagine if a star were that close to a black hole it'd look more like a disc than a sphere. Assuming there's enough light that can escape it.

[–]Michichael 1 point2 points ago

A black hole doesn't have a magical increase in gravitational force. If our sun was replaced with a black hole of equivalent mass we would continue to orbit it just fine. Gravity doesn't suddenly stop functioning normally around a black hole. :)

[–]Mattsinger 0 points1 point ago

yes... a black hole does have an increase in gravity, and it's not "magic". There is an incredible amount of mass in a black hole. The reason we cant see black holes is because not even light can escape the event horizon of such a relentless gravitational pull. If you replaced the sun with a black hole, it would probably be the size of a house.

Edited for specificity

[–]Michichael 1 point2 points ago

As I stated, if it was replaced with a black hole of equivalent mass we would continue to orbit fine. And Black holes are hardly invisible, the accreditation zone around them is one of the brightest things in the universe, as approaching the event horizon any mass is ionized...

They do not have an increase in gravity. They have an increase in density. The gravitational force a black hole exerts is still a function of it's mass, until you get past the event horizon, at which point we aren't sure how they behave beyond exerting an acceleration, presumably due to gravity, of greater than the speed of light.

[–]Mattsinger 0 points1 point ago

i am aware you stated of equivalent mass, but equivalent mass doesn't always equal equivalent size. You'd have to have such a much smaller black hole to equal the same gravitational pull of the sun. Greater the mass (over the same size), greater exertion of attracting force. Also, increase in gravity in comparison/relation to what exactly? You are correct, it is more dense. But along with that density comes greater pull because you have the gravitational pull of billions of stars in the size of a couple stars. Again, it's all relative to size, because a wood cube thats small and dense can have the same mass as a bigger, sparser cube. I do get what you're saying, thank you for your input bro!

[–]b0w3n 0 points1 point ago

And near enough, if they were that far apart from each other, and the black hole was the size depicted in that picture, I don't even think there'd be a star there. That black hole is massive compared to that star.

[–]rgar3 0 points1 point ago

No, the gravitational forces act the same until it is very, very close. The amount of mass is unchanged in the creation of a black hole, as is the center of mass. All that changes is the boundary of the mass' volume collapses and an event horizon is created. And the sun would be more like the size of a pinhead than a house if it collapsed into a black hole.

[–]kromagnon 2 points3 points ago

Yep, crazy huge. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but we can't see the "size" of any stars in the sky (other than the sun) because they are too far away. No matter how much magnification we use, the stars don't appear larger, they still only appear as a point of light.

[–]chowriit 8 points9 points ago

Indeed, there's a minimum resolving power of any telescope based purely on its width that no manner of clever jiggery-pokery can get around.

[–]Billy_Blaze 2 points3 points ago

Jiggery-pokery.

Nice.

[–]evilted 0 points1 point ago

Jiggery-pokery

Word of the Day! GGGAAAAHHHHH!!!!

[–]rgar3 0 points1 point ago

Jiggery-Pokey is the funniest name for Rayleigh's Criterion that I have ever seen. Have an upvote.

[–]wizang 0 points1 point ago

True, but that doesn't mean you can't back out the size via other methods.

[–]NPandM 1 point2 points ago

And the fact black holes suck up the light too

[–]whiteguitar 10 points11 points ago

there is no actual picture of a black hole yet ...

[–]searstream 44 points45 points ago

Pretty hard to take a picture of something that eats light.

[–]Michichael 5 points6 points ago

Well, they only eat light past a certain point. Actual black holes are the brightest things in the galaxy as all matter is ionized as it approaches the event horizon. Once past that, no light can escape, but the approach to it results in the highest luminosity from matter observable, in addition to other emissions such as x-ray radiation.

[–]TrololoTrol 4 points5 points ago

There are heavy x-ray emissions around a blackhole, and there are x-ray telescopes. Also itself emmits Hawking's radiation. So it's not like it is an undetectable thing.

[–]searstream 5 points6 points ago

Undetectable and picture is 2 separate and distinct things.

[–]TrololoTrol 4 points5 points ago

Most pictures you see from space, and satellites, are not captured only from light but are false-color from a broader spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, including x-rays.

From the link:

Images taken by telescopes that observe at the "invisible" wavelengths are sometimes called "false color images." That is because the colors used to make them are not "real" but are chosen to bring out important details.

[...]

The version of Cas A on the right shows an image constructed by selecting different X-ray energy bands from the data, and using a color code to represent these.

This is Cas A picture the quote talks about.

The same goes for satellite imagery of the Earth.

[–]whiteguitar 1 point2 points ago

thats the point

[–]Dutchess_Gummybuns 1 point2 points ago

Source says "illustrated here..."

[–]funran 0 points1 point ago

GX 339-4, illustrated here, is among the most dynamic binaries in the sky, with four major outbursts in the past seven years. In the system, an evolved star no more massive than the sun orbits a black hole estimated at 10 solar masses.

[–]theanyday 0 points1 point ago

Pretty much all the beautiful pictures of galaxies and stuff are digitally manipulated and colored. The telescopes take pretty limited pictures. I believe they take 3 separate pictures at different wavelengths and then add them together and then add all the beautiful colors with photoshop.

[–]iorgfeflkd 0 points1 point ago

No it's a drawing.

[–]sinsperception 0 points1 point ago

I believe there was some people posting a star being blown to bits by a black hole just a few weeks back - this looks like the rendition of what the star looks like moments before it's blown to smithereens.

[–]rgar3 0 points1 point ago

No, the star would be roughly the shape of an icicle if it were that close to the event horizon. No telescope on earth is powerful enough to see that far away and even if it were, all it would look like is a misshapen star disappearing and a jet of plasma coming out the sides. That is an artists rendition.

[–][deleted] -5 points-4 points ago

Anything near a black hole would be sucked in dude. No survivors.

[–]MrKrazybones -5 points-4 points ago

No, a blackhole has never been seen through a telescope. It will probably be a long time before we do see one, after all you're looking for a black object in black space

[–]17thUSpresident 6 points7 points ago

Saw this, immediately thought of Portal.

[–]elderezlo 4 points5 points ago

I would not recommend stepping into either of these...

[–]Vee_Vee 1 point2 points ago

I don't buy this at all. This looks like a crappy artist's rendition of a black hole consuming a star.

[–]calmainyourass 3 points4 points ago

No shit.

[–]GreenFoxes 1 point2 points ago

You don't say?

[–]arcticyeti 0 points1 point ago

This is what I imagine happens when someone tries to break physics with a portal gun

[–]ski4life 0 points1 point ago

so thats where all my socks go

[–]Vacht 0 points1 point ago

Damn, Science! You awesome!

[–]noisylettuce 0 points1 point ago

It's sort of like the water and fire planets in Lexx

http://images.wikia.com/lexx/images/1/1c/Fire_and_water.jpg

[–]zhiryst 0 points1 point ago

this looks like a screencap from a Doctor Who episode.

[–]LoganBravo 0 points1 point ago

thats a quasar

[–]likmbch 0 points1 point ago

It is an artists concept drawing. We can't see stars in that much detail. And you cannot take an image of a blackhole but you can see the effects of one. Also about the mass of the sun should be going straight towards the center of the blackhole? Does the water in your sink go straight for the drain?

[–]bryancb86 0 points1 point ago

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR

[–]Relentless_Fiend 0 points1 point ago

I wish there were some real pictures of this happening.

[–]dynamiteownsall 0 points1 point ago

STAR FORGE.

[–]Dabuscus214 0 points1 point ago

now you're thinking with portals, NASA

[–]The_Classy_Pirate 0 points1 point ago

Can anyone make this into a wall paper for me?

[–]Zaje00100 0 points1 point ago

I wonder what would happen if 2 or more dark holes smashed into each other?

[–]Raogrimm 0 points1 point ago

Damn space you scary.

[–]gamerwithnoname 0 points1 point ago

Is the star okay?

[–]C_Horse 0 points1 point ago

It's only a model

[–]Famous1107 0 points1 point ago

Borin picture, really stunts the imagination...

[–]TiddyWaffles312 0 points1 point ago

aaaannnnddddd new desktop background

[–]neilpeartismyhero 0 points1 point ago

It kind of looks like an upside down Enterprise

[–]NeoBlueArchon 0 points1 point ago

That star is getting pwn3d

[–]verrtex 0 points1 point ago

Why do you need to invest billions into the space exploration when you can just hire an artist who will create images like this? :)

[–]verrtex 0 points1 point ago

Fake!

[–]SarlCagan418 0 points1 point ago

Theoretically

[–]dejablu311 0 points1 point ago

Stargate did it.

[–]backhudson 0 points1 point ago

Cygnus X-1, correct?

[–]gummsy -1 points0 points ago

This just became my background on my laptop. Thank you sir dragonworthy and NASA

[–]BR5497 -1 points0 points ago

Can I just say, black holes are not the brightest things in the universe, they drag in all light within a certain radius, bright implies the luminosity of the object, in which a black hole would be absolute zero, no light at all, the only reason x rays and gamma rays escape is because they are both electromagnetic waves, and thus don't have any mass, photons are simply quantas of energy and actually has mass, so is affected by the black holes gravity. In the singularity of a black hole nobody has a flying Fuck of an idea to what goes on, if all that energy was just converted to mass then there wouldn't be any photons of light in there at all, so it would be just as dark as the rest of it.

Ps. Photographs identifying the location of black holes have been produced, they simply have an unnaturally black patch where no light is at all, or they photograph using the X-rays.

[–]miapoulos -1 points0 points ago

I can't help but feel this has something to do with the Doctor...

[–]Italian_Barrel_Roll -2 points-1 points ago

I have the most spaghettified boner right now.

[–]AbsurdHero -2 points-1 points ago

I'm no astronomy nerd but from what I understand on the subject, the gravity of a star is in balance with the explodey force coming from inside. If the mass was being drained like this it should expand as gravity would be decreasing and eventually it would overlap the black hole. Which would be... interesting.

[–]megagoten -1 points0 points ago

you forgot the part where there's less mass

[–]muse316 -3 points-2 points ago

didn't know nasa had a portal gun

[–]Mayo117 -3 points-2 points ago

Is the image moving???

[–]auroranoel -4 points-3 points ago

NOPE

[–]RooMagoo -2 points-1 points ago

TIL black holes are actually just very large dementors

[–]KazeprXerphus -3 points-2 points ago

In all honesty, this scares me. We have scientists trying to re-create something like that ON the planet.

[–]DennishIrst -4 points-3 points ago

I thought that black holes were only fictional?

[–]jojojoy 0 points1 point ago

No...

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