For The First Time, Astronomers Have Observed Bursts Of Visible Light Being Released By A Black Hole

Visible light emitted from a black hole has been detected for the first time
Got a decent telescope at home? That's all you need to observe a nearby black hole.

For the first time, astronomers have observed bursts of visible light being released by a black hole as it swallows matter from nearby stars.

These flashes of light, which lasted between several minutes to a few hours, were seen coming from a black hole in the Cygnus constellation, located about 7,800 light-years away from Earth. Incredibly, some of the flashes were so bright, the team says amateur astronomers could see them with a modest 20-cm telescope.

“We find that activity in the vicinity of a black hole can be observed in optical light at low luminosity for the first time,” astronomer and lead researcher, Mariko Kimura from Kyoto University in Japan, told Charles Q. Choi at Space.com.

“These findings suggest that we can study physical phenomena that occur in the vicinity of the black hole using moderate optical telescopes without high-spec X-ray or gamma-ray telescopes.”

Continue Reading.

More Posts from Intergalacticnerd and Others

8 years ago
Thankful For Views Like This One —————————————– Camera Info •Canon 5D Mk3

Thankful for views like this one —————————————– Camera Info •Canon 5D Mk3 •Canon 16-35mm F2.8 •16mm •F2.8 Aperture •30" Exposure •6400 ISO •WB3785 —————————————–#justinhartney #nature #pnwwonderland #nightphotography #ThatPNWLife #Ourlonelyplanet #traveloregon #eugene #universityoforegon #uoregon #feedbacknation #thatNWadventure #wildernessculture #modernoutdoors #watchthisinstagood #folkmagazine #theearthoutdoors #thevisualcollective #oregonexplored #beautifuldestinations #nwc10k #vsco #wishyouwerenorthwest #visitbend #1859Oregon #canon_photos #llbeanmoment #bendmag #optoutside #columbia1938 (at Bend, Oregon)

9 years ago

Send a space thing for questions

Planets: Life

Mercury: What’s your full name? 

Venus: What’s your first language? 

Earth: Where’s your home? 

Mars: What’s your sexuality? 

Jupiter: Do you have any siblings? 

Saturn: Any pets? 

Uranus: What’s your hobby? 

Neptune: When’s your birthday? 

Pluto: What time is it right now where you are? 

Moon: What are you currently studying/hope to study? 

Stars: Experiences

Sun: Have you ever had alcohol? 

Sirius: Have you ever failed a class? 

Rigel: Have you ever gone on a rollercoaster? 

Deneb: Have you ever been out of your home country? 

Arcturus: Have you cried out of something other than sadness? 

Betelgeuse: What’s something you can never forget about? 

Aldebaran: What’s something you care desperately about? 

Canopus: Have you ever broken a bone? 

Bellatrix: Have you ever been forced to lie/keep a secret? 

Alphard: Have you ever lost a friend?

Vega: What’s something you’ve done that you wish you hadn’t? 

Constellations: Favourites

Centaurus: Favourite holiday?

Orion: Favourite month?

Cassiopeia: Favourite book?

Delphinus: Favourite study?

Hercules: Favourite instrument?

Gemini: Favourite song?

Pegasus: Favourite place to be?

Libra: Favourite colour? 

Phoenix: Favourite thing to wear?

Aries: Favourite movie? 

Cygnus: Favourite weather? 

Hydra: Favourite sound? 

Galaxies: Love/Friends  

Milky Way: Who’s your oldest friend?  

Andromeda: Do you consider yourself social? 

Black Eye Galaxy: Do you believe in love at first sight? 

Cartwheel Galaxy: When was your first kiss? 

Cigar Galaxy: How’s your flirting skills? 

Comet Galaxy: Have you ever had to leave a relationship because someone changed too much? 

Pinwheel Galaxy: Would you date the last person you talked to? 

Sombrero Galaxy: Do you have a crush right now? 

Bode’s Galaxy: Have you ever had a secret admirer? 

Sunflower Galaxy: Would you date/make friends with someone out of pity? 

Tadpole Galaxy: Would you deny a relationship/friendship? 

Whirlpool Galaxy: Have you ever cried over a breakup? 

Other stuff: Wishes 

Comet: What’s your big dream? 

Asteroid: What does your dream life look like? 

Meteor: What’s something you wish you could tell, but can’t? 

Nebula: If you could undo one thing in your life, what would it be? 

Shooting Star: If you could bring back one thing, what would it be? 

Pulsar: What do you hope to do in the next 10 years? 

Supernova: What’s one thing you want to do before you die? 

Quasar: If you could spend the rest of your life with only one person, who would it be? 

Wormhole: What’s something you wish would happen, but know won’t? 

Black Hole: What’s the last thing you want to see? 

9 years ago
Saturn And Its Largest Moon Reflect Their True Colors Http://ift.tt/1lnhm8l

Saturn and its largest moon reflect their true colors http://ift.tt/1lnhm8l

9 years ago
Answer Time From Space!

Answer Time from Space!

I’m on day 321 of my #YearInSpace, and today I surpassed 500 days in space total. Let’s chat! Sat., Feb. 13 at 1:45 p.m. ET. 

9 years ago

What music do you listen to most?

A wide variety. I created this Spotify playlist of the songs I’ve listened to most during my Year in Space. 

8 years ago
Pluto’s Heart

Pluto’s heart

This high-resolution image captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft shows the bright expanse of the western lobe of Pluto’s “heart,” or Sputnik Planitia, which is rich in nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane ices.

Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

9 years ago
A Message From Earth (AMFE) Is A High-powered Digital Radio Signal That Was Sent On 9 October 2008 Towards

A Message from Earth (AMFE) is a high-powered digital radio signal that was sent on 9 October 2008 towards Gliese 581 c, a large terrestrial extrasolar planet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581. The signal is a digital time capsule containing messages that were selected through a competition. The message was sent using the RT-70 radar telescope of Ukraine’s National Space Agency. The signal will reach the planet Gliese 581 c in early 2029. Many people including celebrities and politicians participated in the AMFE project, which was the world’s first digital time capsule where the content was selected by the public.

More info HERE

More info on Gliese 581 c HERE

Follow Ultrafacts for more facts

9 years ago

The Hubble Space telescope just sent back a new photo of the Twin Jet Nebula. Here’s what it looked like in 1997:

image

And now …

image

Whoa. But wait, we also got an updated image of the merging galaxies NGC 6240. What it looked like in 2008:

image

And today:

image

Science, you’re the best. Oh, and the explanation behind those merging galaxies and their black holes is wild.

9 years ago
M45, The Pleiades Star Cluster

M45, The Pleiades Star Cluster

  • nortimus
    nortimus liked this · 7 years ago
  • captain-raven-knight
    captain-raven-knight reblogged this · 7 years ago
  • aurea-corde
    aurea-corde reblogged this · 8 years ago
  • zoeisthestudiest
    zoeisthestudiest reblogged this · 8 years ago
  • zoeisthestudiest
    zoeisthestudiest liked this · 8 years ago
  • wear-eall-stardust
    wear-eall-stardust liked this · 8 years ago
  • d-m-p7
    d-m-p7 liked this · 8 years ago
  • thefoolandthephilomath
    thefoolandthephilomath reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • newedinburgh
    newedinburgh liked this · 9 years ago
  • demisexuali-titty
    demisexuali-titty liked this · 9 years ago
  • we-are-made-from-stardust-blog
    we-are-made-from-stardust-blog reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • capturethecastle
    capturethecastle reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • nscxyeoroo
    nscxyeoroo liked this · 9 years ago
  • nscklaus-blog
    nscklaus-blog reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • shinjii-remade
    shinjii-remade liked this · 9 years ago
  • reneefournierxo
    reneefournierxo liked this · 9 years ago
  • mirurnas
    mirurnas reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • heirofavians
    heirofavians reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • heirofavians
    heirofavians liked this · 9 years ago
  • amazingakita
    amazingakita reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • kccay
    kccay reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • hhachii
    hhachii liked this · 9 years ago
  • j4ckr4661t
    j4ckr4661t reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • amazingakita
    amazingakita reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • amazingakita
    amazingakita liked this · 9 years ago
  • refuzz
    refuzz liked this · 9 years ago
  • composerlost
    composerlost reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • composerlost
    composerlost liked this · 9 years ago
  • oldseablues
    oldseablues reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • oldseablues
    oldseablues liked this · 9 years ago
  • glowly
    glowly reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • ericelectron
    ericelectron liked this · 9 years ago
  • rebelliouswildfire
    rebelliouswildfire reblogged this · 9 years ago
  • rebelliouswildfire
    rebelliouswildfire liked this · 9 years ago
  • plumprumps
    plumprumps liked this · 9 years ago
  • shouyooo
    shouyooo liked this · 9 years ago
  • andrewhusselhoff-blog
    andrewhusselhoff-blog reblogged this · 9 years ago
intergalacticnerd - space n shit
space n shit

"Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another." - Plato

147 posts

Explore Tumblr Blog
Search Through Tumblr Tags