A black hole is one of the most intriguing objects in the universe and the science of Astronomy. It is all that remains after a massive star has completed burning its nuclear fuel. Stars exhibit a delicate balance between the energy produced by fusion of its fuel and the huge amount of gravity possessed by its mass. When a star has exhausted its nuclear fuel, it no longer has the energy to counteract the tremendous force of its own gravity. The star then implodes under its own immense gravity and compresses or shrinks to a single point, called a singularity (a.k.a. black hole). At this point, pressure and density become infinite. The current knowledge suggests that any object that gets too close to a black hole is pulled in, stretched to infinity, and trapped forever. The gravity exhibited by a black hole is calculated to be so large that nothing can escape, not even light. However, high amounts of energy have been measured streaming from some black holes suggesting that physical-chemical reactions occur to the materials as they are being pulled in and heated. As materials are heated, they emit tremendous amounts of x-rays and gamma rays. Black Hole Anatomy Not all stars will end up to become black holes. Special circumstances are required to create such massive singularities of gravity. A black hole forms when its pre-cursor star has sufficient mass to create a massive implosion. Giant stars more than three times the mass of our Sun are thought to be large enough to implode to form a black hole. Without sufficient mass, dying stars can have other ends, such as white dwarfs, brown dwarfs, or red giants. Average-sized stars, like our Sun, shrink to become white dwarfs (small, extremely dense stars having low brightness) about the size of Earth. (Although, there are other theories that suggest our Sun may also become a red giant in its dying days). However, stars that are three times the mass of the Sun and greater, may have the required mass and gravity to form a huge gravity singularity. Black holes cannot be seen, so how do we they know they exist? Astronomers have not witnessed a black hole directly, however there are several ways they know of their existence. One method is to observe nearby stars that are not close enough to be pulled in, but are close enough to be affected by the black hole’s tremendous gravitational pull. Observations of the orbits for several stars over time can be tracked by a telescope and computers are then able to calculate the relative position of the central area around which all the stars are orbiting. In addition, physicists have been able to calculate their existence. There is no way I can possibly explain the complex calculations they use to determine their existence, however, rest assured we can rely on physicists to be correct. Escape Velocity We can use escape velocity to illustrate what it would take to escape large objects in space and then extend this to black holes. For example to escape Earth’s gravity, we would have to travel at a speed of a minimum of 7 miles per second. To escape the Sun, we would have to travel at 380 miles per second. We could extend this idea to an object so massive and so dense that the escape velocity of light is exceeded (186,000 miles per second). Objects with such massive gravity have been determined to exist, therefore nothing would be able to escape their gravity not even light. Black Holes Can Warp Space and Time According to the famous Albert Einstein’s (1879–1955) general theory of relativity, space becomes curved near massive objects that are extremely dense. The greater the density, the more space is curved. When a black hole forms, space curves so much, that only a small opening to the rest of normal space remains. The surface of this opening is called the event horizon, a theorized point of no-return. Any matter that crosses the event horizon is drawn in by the black hole’s gravity and cannot escape, vanishing across the event horizon forever. What happens inside a black hole is unknown. Time Warping Einstein considered space and time were both relative, indicating they BOTH could change. Evidence of Einstein’s theory of time warping was determined by examination of extremely accurate clocks in satellites in orbit above the earth over 200 miles up. Clocks in these satellites were shown to run faster than those on Earth by a very small amount (1 ten thousandth of a third of a second). This time difference was verified carefully numerous times. It was clear, that objects on such a massive object such as the earth, exhibited slower time than objects only 200 miles away. Extrapolate this theory to the super massive black holes that have been calculated to exist, and you would find that time stands still at a black hole! Maddalena Environmental Inc. Al Maddalena Image Compliments of Intergalactic Vault
An asteroid (above) was discovered by astronomers in 2004 that initially had a 2.7% chance of striking the Earth on April 13, 2029. It has a diameter of only 325 meters and but has a velocity of 30 km/s or 67,108 mph and a mass of 40,000,000 tonnes! For comparison, the asteroid that impacted the Earth 65 million years ago causing the Last Great Extinction had a mass of nearly 1 Trillion tons, moving at a velocity of about 43,000 mph and released about 100 Million megatons. Therefore an Earth impact from this asteroid would result in a massive release of energy, nothing short of an epic disaster. However, it would not likely cause an extinction level event. The asteroid was given the name "Apophis" for the Egyptian god of the underworld. (if you're a fan of TV's Stargate SG-1, then you'll recognize that Apophis is one of the alien villains). After more observations of Apophis, astronomers have calculated that it will come extremely close to Earth in 2029, within 40,000 km. That is within the orbit of Earth satellites and within our atmosphere so we will be able to see it. Nobody knows what affects this will have on the orbit of Apophis. However, after running more planetary orbital computer models, astronomers determined that if Apophis passed through a small area of space called a "gravitational key hole", only 800 meters wide, in 2029, that it would return and impact the Earth exactly 7 years later in 2036. The chances of this happening are extremely remote. Maddalena Environmental Inc. Al Maddalena Photo compliments Wikipedia
The largest space telescope in human history is completed and is about to be launched in 2018. It took 20 years of construction with the collaboration of all of Earth's Space Agencies. The Hubble Space Telescope has been a wonderous machine that revealed unbelievable information. The James Webb Telescope will reveal even more. The James Webb telescope will bring on a new age for astronomy. Maddalena Environmental Inc. Al Maddalena It has been 25 years since The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit and began revolutionizing Astronomy and Theoretical Physics. Hubble has provided unbelievable insight into the origins of the Universe, Dark Matter, Black Holes and Dark Energy. To commemorate Hubble's great achievements here is an iconic image of the Pillars of Creation. It is the Eagle Nebula approximately 6,500-7000 light years from Earth. Nebula accumulations of gas that are the nurseries for creating new Stars. This is one of the top 10 Hubble images as described by Space.com. Below is another iconic photo from Hubble, the Sombrero Galaxy. It is in the constellation Virgo and is 31 million light-years from Earth. It is 50,000 light years in diameter and yet is only 1/3 the size of our Milky Way Galaxy. The glow from the center of the galaxy comes from billions of old stars, while the darker rings of the galaxy are host to younger, brighter stars. A large black hole is thought to be at the very center of the galaxy. Images courtesy of Hubble Space Telescope.
Maddalena Environmental Inc. Al Maddalena Although there are a few scientists that believe the latest climate changes are natural, approximately 95% of climate scientists agree that the latest Earth warming (caused by CO2 increases) is due to Man's activities. See the list of organizations that agree here.
I would like to present a summary graph of the most important and compelling data to date. Here it is above. These data are so important I felt compelled to present it again with more discussion. These data are produced from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. It is a comprehensive presentation of CO2 data for the past 650,000 years. These CO2 concentrations are from air bubbles trapped in ice from Antarctic ice cores, representing CO2 in the atmosphere at the time they were trapped in snow. These concentrations are plotted versus time. Through age dating techniques, scientists are able to produce ages of the ice in which the CO2 bubbles are located. Therefore, these CO2 concentrations plotted versus time are the most accurate and most comprehensive data for climate change as they record CO2 concentrations that were present in Antarctica for the past 650,000 years. The graph also includes present-day CO2 concentrations for comparison. As you can see, there are natural cycles in the production of CO2 over the past period of 650,000 years. The maximum CO2 concentration recorded for these natural cycles does not exceed 300 ppm. (See other ice core data showing the record extends to 800,000 years before present.) Now compare this maximum to the present-day average CO2 concentration of 405 ppm recorded in May 2016. This is historic and unprecedented, because present-day CO2 concentrations (in the last 200 years) have not been present for at least the last 650,000 years. This corresponds to the on-set of the industrial revolution and unprecedented burning of fossil fuels by humans. What is even worse, is that the rate of CO2 production from burning of fossil fuels is not being reduced and it is highly likely, that we will see CO2 concentrations of 800 ppm in the coming years. If we have not seen CO2 concentrations on Earth above 300 ppm for the past 650,000 years, what makes us think there will not be huge climate change effects when we are already at 400 ppm in 200 years and heading even higher? Make no mistake, the implications of these unprecedented CO2 concentrations are huge and we are only beginning to see their effects now, as the huge CO2 increase will take some time for its full effect to be realized on Earth’s climate. Maddalena Environmental Inc. Al Maddalena |