Huge Black Holes on Collision Course

[zidane1strife]

Before moving in on this topic in full, I'd like to clear up something mentioned in the article:

The above is correct, but you have to be a little careful in reading it (which I think may be leading to KILER's confusion). Some black holes come from the collapse of massive stars. Others come from mergers of other objects. At the center of every galaxy is a supermassive black hole that has come from many mergers over a long period of time. And yes, these mergers are rather violent. We refer to galaxies that have black holes that are currently gobbling up matter as quasars. These are galaxies that are billions of light years away, but so bright that they look like normal stars to us.

And yes, we expect active galactic nuclei (black holes that are gobbling up matter) to make the galaxy too violent for life, but I don't think we know that for sure. Most of the energy is emitted perpendicular to the galaxy, and thus wouldn't be seen at all by somebody within the galaxy.

When our galaxy eventually does merge with Andromeda (hundreds of millions of years out still, I believe), the black holes should merge, and they should also become active for a while. I'm not really sure right now what would be more dangerous: the disturbed orbits of stars and increased star formation associated with a galactic merger, or the turning on of the black hole. Personally I hope that by that time, we will have populated the entire galaxy, so that somebody survives the process.

If we manage to survive this century... we will be able to influence the event by then.

 

[KimB]

Er, century is far, far, far too short a timescale to worry about any sort of issues with our own galaxy.

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

If by century you mean galactic century then I'd agree but if you mean 1000 years then we should be worried.

Er, century is far, far, far too short a timescale to worry about any sort of issues with our own galaxy.

 

[nutball]

If we manage to survive this century... we will be able to influence the event by then.

You've been reading too much sci-fi!

 

[KimB]

Um, guys, the collision with Andromeda is about 3 billion years out.

 

[London Geezer]

If we manage to survive this century... we will be able to influence the event by then.

How exactly? I mean even theoretically speaking.....

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

Throw pieces of anti gravity into the black hole?
Detonate nukes in the singularity?

How exactly? I mean even theoretically speaking.....

 

[London Geezer]

Throw pieces of anti gravity into the black hole?
Detonate nukes in the singularity?

........ right.........

I mean, i read some sci-fi book by Iain Banks which was absolutely out of this world, in terms of what things humanity was able to do in that Universe (millions of years away from now), and even in that Universe we wouldn't have been able to stop a potential galaxy collision.... And that was sci-fi...

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

Why is my theory unrealistic?
If it doesn't work then change the formulas so it does work.

........ right.........

I mean, i read some sci-fi book by Iain Banks which was absolutely out of this world, in terms of what things humanity was able to do in that Universe (millions of years away from now), and even in that Universe we wouldn't have been able to stop a potential galaxy collision.... And that was sci-fi...

 

[London Geezer]

Why is my theory unrealistic?
If it doesn't work then change the formulas so it does work.

The formulas are always right, if they don't work you should invent a new form of matter to match the formulas.

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

You mean like turn silver into gold by adding neutrinos into it's mass?

The formulas are always right, if they don't work you should invent a new form of matter to match the formulas.

 

[MuFu]

Um, guys, the collision with Andromeda is about 3 billion years out.

*adds to Google Calendar.

 

[Tahir2]

You guys are killing me!

 

[nutball]

Why is my theory unrealistic?
If it doesn't work then change the formulas so it does work.

Stick to maths Kruno, leave the physics to the experts

 

[drpepper]

Why is my theory unrealistic?
If it doesn't work then change the formulas so it does work.

We'll no matter how hard you try, nothing man invents will ever destroy a black hole. The nukes we send to the black hole will not only be destroyed before it reaches the singularity but it will cease to exist as it approaches the black hole. So no amounts of explosives will touch the singularity. Even if you manage to magically get the nuke next to the sungularity you'll just be adding to the mass of the black hole. The x-rays emitted by the black hole alone is more violent then a nuclear bomb. No what you need is an act of god.

Or perhaps lots and lots of antimatter... Perhaps of equivalent density of the black hole in question.

 

[Cartoon Corpse]

unopposable force meets immovable object? (or another unopposable force)

are all black holes created equal?

 

[SugarCoat]

We'll no matter how hard you try, nothing man invents will ever destroy a black hole. The nukes we send to the black hole will not only be destroyed before it reaches the singularity but it will cease to exist as it approaches the black hole. So no amounts of explosives will touch the singularity. Even if you manage to magically get the nuke next to the sungularity you'll just be adding to the mass of the black hole. The x-rays emitted by the black hole alone is more violent then a nuclear bomb. No what you need is an act of god.

Or perhaps lots and lots of antimatter... Perhaps of equivalent density of the black hole in question.

2000 years from now this civilization we currently live in will be viewed the same way we see the days of the Romans. Dont be so close minded . Within the next 10 thousand years i fully expect the human race to have developed a way to use clip planes for space travel as well as a far exceeded production rate of antimatter (currently its extremely expensive to manufacture antimatter and the yields are terrible, by terrible i mean it would take 100 billion years to create a single gram of the stuff under current conditions). This is assuming of course we dont wipe eachother out in a holocaust or a super virus doesnt kill every living thing. Quite confident we'll be living on other planets within the next 300-500 years as well. I just wouldnt underestimate the rate of technological growth. You see, when the time comes we can even get to a black hole, a nuke will be about as useful and efficient a weapon as a rock. Photon death rays and matter decoupling guns is where its at! Pretty sure mass drivers could be turned into a pretty awesome weapon as well.

 

[Jabbah]

Or perhaps lots and lots of antimatter... Perhaps of equivalent density of the black hole in question.

I was wondering about that. But does gravity affect antimatter in the same way as matter? ie will matter repell antimatter instead of attracting it?

 

[nutball]

I just wouldnt underestimate the rate of technological growth.

Don't underestimate the laws of physics! If the laws of physics dictate that something is not possible, then technological advancement will not find a way around it.

 

[KimB]

I was wondering about that. But does gravity affect antimatter in the same way as matter? ie will matter repell antimatter instead of attracting it?

This is a rather hard experiment to perform, just because it's hard to slow down anti-matter without it annihilating with something. But it appears that gravity affects anti-matter the same as normal matter, which is what we would expect since gravity doesn't couple to a charge like the other forces: it couples to energy/momentum.