Astronomy Cast 489: Black Hole Update

Join +Fraser Cain and +Pamela Gay for a live episode of Astronomy Cast. We'll record our 30-minute show, and then stay tuned for them to answer questions!

Another update episode, this time we look at what's new and changed in the research of black holes. And it's here that we find a lot of substantial new discoveries in the field, so much has been discovered since we first covered black holes a decade ago.

[MxWintersAFOL]

Damn, watched one episode and now I'm caught spiraling into a black hole of endless knowledge.

This is how I like my science, straight talking, data...data...data and no BS ad's, woohoo! I think this channel is what makes me start a patreon account.

[kylesims]

What happens if 2 or 3 super massive black holes merge because of Galaxy collisions.
Would it then have enough gravity to eat up the stars in the original Galaxy? Then it has been said that we have tens of thousands black holes in the center of our Galaxy...

[madderhat]

What and why is there an upper limit to black holes? Can an ancient entire gallaxy be eaten by a black whole and what would that do to space/time. What would happen if a whole cluster was swallowed?

[madderhat]

Dan Simmons is one of my favourite authors ever. So versatile
.

[Whatshappening]

''Im allergic to latex and did myself in for an extra day'' - the part my mum walks in for the 60 seconds she was in my room...

[JB]

I'm kind of confused here. If we have galaxies without black holes in the center what is holding them together ?

[Corvaire]

The reason not all galaxies don't have Black Holes is because all BH collapse during a Grand Fission. BH reform only if there is enough mass in the center (or via collisions.) ;O)-

[madderhat]

What's all this high'n'mighty "precision" that has reared it's perfectly timed head in the show. That's not what I tune in for, and in my day blah blah blah ; p

[lindsayforbes]

Where would those mini black holes have come from? How long would a mini, say, the weight of the earth take to radiate away?
Great show

[horizonbrave]

Love the podcasts Fraser and Pamela! You two make a great fun team... I have a probably silly question, but you always suggest starting with a good pair of astro binoculars instead of a full telescope setup. Is it at all possible to take snapshots or pictures with astronomical binoculars? or is this something that only a telecope can provide?

[zapfanzapfan]

The sun would yield a 3 km radius black hole, not 3 cm. I think 3 cm is if the Earth is turned into a black hole.

[bigbrownsound]

I guess chad will fix it in the podcast edition, but Pamela is usually a good 3 to 5 dB louder than Fraser.