Earth eaten by a black hole?

Originally posted by Simon666
The chance is smaller than a star coming close enough to the earth to change its orbit, swallow it or fry it. Space is so empty that the chance of stars coming close to each other - if not formed together at least - is very small.

Agreed. The nearest star is 4.2 light years away. I think that we can all rest easy tonight.

Originally posted by TJ11240

Originally posted by Simon666
The chance is smaller than a star coming close enough to the earth to change its orbit, swallow it or fry it. Space is so empty that the chance of stars coming close to each other - if not formed together at least - is very small.

Agreed. The nearest star is 4.2 light years away. I think that we can all rest easy tonight.

Wrong, the Sun is a star.

Mr. Allen, you are a clever guy!!

Yes, that statement is often made when talking about the nearest star. And yes, it is assumed that we are referring to the nearest star from our own. I think last time I saw it, it was on a some quiz thing on a placemat at a diner.


Quite similar to asking such questions like:

"What's the nearest town from here?"


Anyway, moving along...

Ah! Im glad to gt out of the how to make our gov. better thread. I dont think any black holes would want to eat us. To sour

I don’t think theres to much to worry about seeing how black hole don’t move because time stops inside blackholes which means that in order for something to move it needs time and distance… well seeing how time stops at the “event horizon” the blackhole no longer moves… www.madsci.org...

And seeing how the closest blackhole is 1,600 light years from earth, and the closest star exempting the sun is Alpha Centauri an its 4.336 light-years away and I don’t think it’s a “red giant” yet or expanded star then its not gonna explode anytime soon… Same with the earth… So Id be more worried about Mayan calendars and PY ( prophet Yaheysdasf or whatever) then a blackhole swallowing Earth…

Originally posted by inspiringyouth
I don’t think theres to much to worry about seeing how black hole don’t move because time stops inside blackholes which means that in order for something to move it needs time and distance… well seeing how time stops at the “event horizon” the blackhole no longer moves… www.madsci.org...

And seeing how the closest blackhole is 1,600 light years from earth, and the closest star exempting the sun is Alpha Centauri an its 4.336 light-years away and I don’t think it’s a “red giant” yet or expanded star then its not gonna explode anytime soon… Same with the earth… So Id be more worried about Mayan calendars and PY ( prophet Yaheysdasf or whatever) then a blackhole swallowing Earth…

The fact is, although we can't see a black hole "proper", we can figure out exactly where they are by the debris that gets consumed, and picking up the Xrays that manage to escape the process. As far as black holes NOT orbiting the galactic core...well...I might need to do some research, but I think time and space only vanish within the confines of the black hole.

Nonetheless, I don't lose sleep over this kind of stuff. If earth is going to get "taken out" by anything, it'll be something home-grown. (Rogue Meteors, Comets, or Asteroids.)

Sleep tight!

If it will make you feel any better, there isn't enough space on this ATS page to put all the .0000s you'd need to figure out the odds of us running into a black hole....Okay?

[edit on 22-6-2005 by Toelint]

Here's a reliable link to get you started on your study of Black Holes. Good Luck!

cosmology.berkeley.edu...

[edit on 22-6-2005 by Toelint]

Two Questions:

How many Black Holes are in our Galaxy?

How does X-Ray and Gamma Radiation escape the event horizon? Are they that much more energized than visible light?

Originally posted by inspiringyouth
I don’t think theres to much to worry about seeing how black hole don’t move because time stops inside blackholes which means that in order for something to move it needs time and distance… well seeing how time stops at the “event horizon” the blackhole no longer moves… www.madsci.org...

First of all, I think it's funny that you linked some random guys post about the subject.

Second: Black holes do move. Some of them spin at incredible speeds (100s of revolutions per second). Link

Third: About the whole time issue--yes and no. To the outside observer, you would never fall 'into' a black hole (past the event horizon). You would also turn many colors of the rainbow as you approached the event horizon. To the one falling in, looking out time would appear to stand still, yet the he/she would still proceed towards the singularity.

*this is a thought experiment. i realize that you would be ripped to shreds long before you got to the event horizon.

Originally posted by TJ11240
Two Questions:

How many Black Holes are in our Galaxy?

Lots

How does X-Ray and Gamma Radiation escape the event horizon? Are they that much more energized than visible light?

Good question. Gamma radiation is some truely powerful stuff. It is only created (given off) in the universes' most violent actions, which says a lot if you think about it. But no, it's not energized enough to escape a black hole/event horizon (without a little help from its friends).

Anyway, the problem was tackled by Stephen Hawking. He stuffed it at the line for a 3 yard loss and thus the solution was given the name 'Hawking Radiation'. Google it up to learn more.

Here's a 6 sentence summary:

Black holes are usually thought of as objects with such strong gravity that nothing, not even light, can escape from them. However, Stephen Hawking has shown that black holes can radiate energy. The reason goes back to quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle. For very brief periods of time, matter or energy can be created from empty space because no such thing as truly empty space exists. Hawking realized that if a particle/anti-particle pair came into existence near the event horizon of a black hole, one might fall into the hole before annihilating its anti-particle. The other particle could then escape the gravitational clutches of the black hole, appearing to an outside observer as radiation.

link of the above short summary

The odds of us running into a black hole in the next, say, billion years, are
very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very slim. So, don't get worried about it.