Most distant black hole discovered

[Owlscrying]

June 7

The most distant black hole ever found is nearly 13 billion light-years from Earth, astronomers announced today.

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope spotted the bright burst of light the black hole created as it sucked up nearby gas, heating it and causing it to glow very brightly in what's known as a quasar.

The distance to the quasar, which sits in the constellation Pisces, was determined by measuring the amount of redshift in the lines of the quasar's spectrum, or prism of light. Because light is "redshifted" to longer wavelengths as an object moves away from an observer, the higher the redshift, the further away the object is-and this quasar had quite a large redshift.

Because the Big Bang is believed to have occurred around 13.7 billion years ago, astronomers are seeing the quasar as it appeared a mere 1 billion years after the Big Bang, which gives them a unique view into universe's past.

Sometime around the universe's one billionth birthday, the first stars and galaxies began to shine and ionized all of the hydrogen atoms in the universe (or removed an electron from each atom). The quasar's bright light illuminates the hydrogen gas in front of it, which lets astronomers see whether the atoms still have their electrons attached or not, which could help pin down the date of this momentous event.

The black hole powering this quasar is estimated to be about 500 million times the mass of the sun, which is thought to be unusual for an early black hole.

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[MIB-Agent]

June 7

The most distant black hole ever found is nearly 13 billion light-years from Earth, astronomers announced today.

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope spotted the bright burst of light the black hole created as it sucked up nearby gas, heating it and causing it to glow very brightly in what's known as a quasar.

The distance to the quasar, which sits in the constellation Pisces, was determined by measuring the amount of redshift in the lines of the quasar's spectrum, or prism of light. Because light is "redshifted" to longer wavelengths as an object moves away from an observer, the higher the redshift, the further away the object is-and this quasar had quite a large redshift.

Because the Big Bang is believed to have occurred around 13.7 billion years ago, astronomers are seeing the quasar as it appeared a mere 1 billion years after the Big Bang, which gives them a unique view into universe's past.

Sometime around the universe's one billionth birthday, the first stars and galaxies began to shine and ionized all of the hydrogen atoms in the universe (or removed an electron from each atom). The quasar's bright light illuminates the hydrogen gas in front of it, which lets astronomers see whether the atoms still have their electrons attached or not, which could help pin down the date of this momentous event.

The black hole powering this quasar is estimated to be about 500 million times the mass of the sun, which is thought to be unusual for an early black hole.

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HEY! I've heard of this black hole before. Its a Supermassive Black Hole.

[chemical-licker]

wow!!! scary

[MIB-Agent]

wow!!! scary

Yeah, but like most black holes, they will diminish over time. But since it is believed to be a supermassive black hole.....it will take longer.

[Raptor]

Yeah, but like most black holes, they will diminish over time. But since it is believed to be a supermassive black hole.....it will take longer.

No kidding. The time it will take to evaporate fully would be many, many more times longer than the age of the universe itself.

Stephen Hawking said that a black hole with the mass a few times greater than the sun would take a million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million (66 zeros) years to evaporate.

Edited June 7, 2007 by Raptor X7

[Princess Serenity]

Stephen Hawking said that a black hole with the mass a few times greater than the sun would take a million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million (66 zeros) years to evaporate.

We'll all be dead by the time the sun. Goes "boom."

[MIB-Agent]

We'll all be dead by the time the sun. Goes "boom."

Yeah. Hopefully, the black hole won't get us before the sun implodes. I'll ***SNIP*** if the black hole sucks the Earth up before the sun implodes, but I doubt it will occur.

Edited June 10, 2007 by Waspie_Dwarf
From the terms and conditions: "3c. Profanity: Do not use profanity, members who consistently use offensive language or attempt to bypass the offensive language filters will be subject to moderator action."

[Raptor]

There aren't any black holes near enough to the Solar System to worry about.

[SameerPrehistorica]

that was a great information.....

thanks man...always iam very interested to know about the black holes.

the black hole must be the most dangerous thing on the universe.........................

[Primeval]

Its a Supermassive Black Hole.

Is that the technical term?

[Raptor]

Is that the technical term?

Yeah, but it just means exactly what it says.

Edited June 17, 2007 by Raptor X7

[Picturesque Orion]

Dave, maybe the black hole is not the most deadly thing in the universe, we still got many many many to explore, many to discover, and many to find.

[Lotus Flower]

I am not worried, it would take a while to travel there by bus

[Grandpa Greenman]

No picture of it, bummer. I'll just have to keep looking for one.

[telirium]

too bad their invisible

[Picturesque Orion]

too bad their invisible

depends...........

P.S. They are naturraly invisible but..........

[lostboyyanke]

No kidding. The time it will take to evaporate fully would be many, many more times longer than the age of the universe itself.

Stephen Hawking said that a black hole with the mass a few times greater than the sun would take a million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million, million (66 zeros) years to evaporate.

damn thats crazy