Millions of Black Holes Zooming Through Milky Way Like Bullets, Astronomers Say

The title is misleading as a bullet is not all that fast when considering known cosmic velocities, but still the article is interesting IMO. Most everyone has heard we live in a cosmic shooting gallery and are lucky (except for a few known instances of past impacts) to have survived as long as we have.. Thank goodness space is like really really big !!

A recent study indicates that a vast majority of black holes in our galaxy are traveling at incredible speeds due to the recoil kick they receive after a supernova collapses. There are possibly up to 1 billion of these powerful and strange celestial objects in our galaxy, according to NASA.

The astronomers say our galaxy may be full of black holes that zip across the galaxy at speeds faster than that of a bullet, Science Alert reported Friday.

Black holes have typically been thought of as supermassive stars that have collapsed in on themselves after a supernova explosion and therefore retain their velocity and trajectory. However, scientists now say that black holes can be violently propelled across the galaxy as a result of a supernova recoil – an effect known as the Blaauw kick, or ‘natal’ kick. This effect has previously been observed in neutron stars and now scientists say black holes are prone to the same affect. Black holes launched by a Blaauw kick can travel at speeds of up to 70 km per second, Science Alert says.

sputniknews.com...

Science and doom porn 2 for 1! Seriously though, very interesting. Outer space should be the number one phobia.

Well , billions in a galaxy don't add up to much.

a reply to: 727Sky

Everything in space is in motion. Even black holes rotate around the galactic center more or less as they did before they became black holes, i.e. when they were that visible star.

Something noteworthy is that 70km/s is very slow actually. Our own solar system, us including, fly at 230 km/s. So, why the astromen say black holes swing thru there like a bullet, must be a journalist just having no idea.

a reply to: deckdel

must be a journalist just having no idea.

How unusual.
Actually not. In most cases consumer grade science is a mess.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: deckdel

must be a journalist just having no idea.

How unusual.
Actually not. In most cases consumer grade science is a mess.

You're on the case, as typically expected. Nothing but disregard in your post.

Op, Were all donna die.. be it slow, a car or the earth falling away from us.

We're not gotta live through it. I hope for a strike... I do.. I wanna see the sky shine in that one immaculate moment. Hear the quake, the sea thunder, the sky yell... Not a mundane cancer nor belligerent heart attack.. I wanna see it all.

We can only hope.. Hail hades.. you stubborn bastard...

7 years for a black hole travelling at bullet speed to fly from Earth to Mars.

reddit.com/r/AskScienceDiscussion/comments/abcfli/how_long_would_it_take_a_bullet_to_reach_mars_if/

What a weird article.

Here another source
www.sciencealert.com...

An the paper preprint
arxiv.org...

The velocity mentioned here is, from my understanding, relative to "local standard of rest" (mean motion of matter in the Milky Way). As such I guess it is a high velocity.

Oumuamua had an interstellar speed of 26 km/s. One of those black holes would be almost three times as fast.

Without a sliver of proof, I would like to contribute my 2 cents to the topic. First, I believe that black holes are everywhere and at some point migrate towards other black holes, after an initial period of repulsion. This attraction/repulsion is the basis of gravity and also velocity. We are just starting to observe these tiny phenomena, and I believe there is no limit on size in either direction . Second, there may be a 'slingshot effect' where an object in motion may be able to accelerate when it is between two attracted or repulsed blackholes, where the stonger of the 2 black holes can tether an object until the original black hole encounters a greater black hole. Eventually the universe as we know it would become a giant black hole and collapse upon itself, thus creating the true singularity , forming a big bang and starting over again. I would like to think this is what they are looking for at CERN, that they are indeed attempting to create and even collide black holes, while observing an object between. Of course the whole idea gets beyond choas theory complexity when you consider that there are much more simultaneous interactions then 2 black holes, or even millions, possibly explaining dark matter. The above mentioned Oumuamua might hold the key to proving this puzzle if we could figure out the context , i.e. where did it come from or where is it heading. Obviously, this is mere philosophy, but hey , abstract thoughts create theories to test.

a reply to: deckdel

70km/s is a slow speed relative to some things, yes...

But when you factor in the energy and matter per capita moving at that speed, our solar system is NOTHING compared to an average black hole at 70Km/s.

originally posted by: Gothmog
Well , billions in a galaxy don't add up to much.

It might when you're traveling between systems, and pass too close to one that wasn't mapped.

Wonder how observable they are with current tech.

Something Strange Punched a Hole in the Milky Way. But What Exactly Is It?

www.livescience.com...

originally posted by: gb540

originally posted by: Gothmog
Well , billions in a galaxy don't add up to much.

It might when you're traveling between systems, and pass too close to one that wasn't mapped.

Wonder how observable they are with current tech.

They dont know where they are. That is theoretical based on location between observable stars .
There has only been a few black holes observes (3 or 4 ?)
The billion is theoretical and highly speculative .

As far as getting too near a black hole ?
We will not even know it.

a reply to: 727Sky
Are they all possibly connected to the "main" Super massive black hole?

So thats where all my stuff goes. It falls into a black hole.

originally posted by: nOraKat
So thats where all my stuff goes. It falls into a black hole.

One sock from a pair and ink pens.

And sometimes my car keys. However, I think a white hole eventually comes along and spits my cars keys back out, and unusually at some other place in my house where I swear I didn't put them.

a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

Well what I think happens is that when you really need something a troll or gremlin comes along and takes it.

He then returns it when you no longer need it.