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Chocolate chips in the Milky way

PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:31 am
by Rahima
Black hole confirmed in Milky Way
By Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News


The Milky Way was tracked from an observatory in Chile .There is a giant black hole at the centre of our galaxy, a study has confirmed.

German astronomers tracked the movement of 28 stars circling the centre of the Milky Way, using two telescopes in Chile.

The black hole is four million times heavier than our Sun, according to the paper in The Astrophysical Journal.

Black holes are objects whose gravity is so great that nothing - including light - can escape them.

According to Dr Robert Massey, of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), the results suggest that galaxies form around giant black holes in the way that a pearl forms around grit.

'The black pearl'

Dr Massey said: "Although we think of black holes as somehow threatening, in the sense that if you get too close to one you are in trouble, they may have had a role in helping galaxies to form - not just our own, but all galaxies.

to keep reading> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7774287.stm

PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:08 am
by Nance
Oooh I saw this yesterday - interesting isnt it :)
The Black Pearl.....hmmm....why does that remind me of pirates, I wonder?? :p

PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:20 am
by mooktakim
The center of any kind of orbit theres large mass, ie our solar system has the sun at its core.
So i would think it would be obvious that the galaxy would have something similar. Although a humongous sun would be obvious to spot but nothing is mass'ier than a black hole :)

So i wonder what all the galaxies orbiting around :) the mind wonders.

PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:26 am
by Rahima
the orbit around a really fat guy

PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:37 am
by mooktakim
Rahima wrote:the orbit around a really fat guy


The galaxies don't revolve around you Mabrur.... :P