5 ms·

Black Hole Has Major Flare

30 points by nsns 11y ago

pbhjpbhj 11y ago
Describing an artists impression of something that's not visible as "a diagram" doesn't sit well with me. I fear many people will see this and assume it's actual photography - my first thought was "how the hell did they manage to get that image" followed swiftly by "oh, it's a mockup; move along". From the full image link, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=pia20051 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=pia20051 : "A supermassive black hole is depicted in this artist's concept, surrounded by a swirling disk of material falling onto it. The purplish ball of light above the black hole, a feature called the corona, contains highly energetic particles that generate X-ray light. If you could view the corona with your eyes, it would appear nearly invisible since we can't see its X-ray light. "
- jjoe 11y ago
  di·a·gram ˈdīəˌɡram/ noun 1. a simplified drawing showing the appearance, structure, or workings of something; a schematic representation. "a diagram of the living room" verb 1. represent (something) in graphic form. "the experiment is diagramed on page fourteen" Not so bizarre use of the word diagram based on its dictionary definition.
  - hellofunk 11y ago
    I agree, when I read "diagram" I don't think "photograph." This diagram is more elaborate some others, but I don't think the first impression is to assume it is a real photo when it is explicitly called otherwise.
- dr_zoidberg 11y ago
  In this New York Times video you can see a few simulations and representations of black holes: http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000003725182/peering-into-a-black-hole.html?emc=edit_au_20150609&nl=afternoonupdate&nlid=68634180 http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000003725182/peering... Those are some of the best. You should also keep an eye on the Event Horizon Telescope, mentioned in that video: http://eventhorizontelescope.org/index.html http://eventhorizontelescope.org/index.html

30 points by nsns 11y ago

Describing an artists impression of something that's not visible as "a diagram" doesn't sit well with me. I fear many people will see this and assume it's actual photography - my first thought was "how the hell did they manage to get that image" followed swiftly by "oh, it's a mockup; move along". From the full image link, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=pia20051 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=pia20051 : "A supermassive black hole is depicted in this artist's concept, surrounded by a swirling disk of material falling onto it. The purplish ball of light above the black hole, a feature called the corona, contains highly energetic particles that generate X-ray light. If you could view the corona with your eyes, it would appear nearly invisible since we can't see its X-ray light. "

jjoe 11y ago
di·a·gram ˈdīəˌɡram/ noun 1. a simplified drawing showing the appearance, structure, or workings of something; a schematic representation. "a diagram of the living room" verb 1. represent (something) in graphic form. "the experiment is diagramed on page fourteen" Not so bizarre use of the word diagram based on its dictionary definition.
- hellofunk 11y ago
  I agree, when I read "diagram" I don't think "photograph." This diagram is more elaborate some others, but I don't think the first impression is to assume it is a real photo when it is explicitly called otherwise.
dr_zoidberg 11y ago
In this New York Times video you can see a few simulations and representations of black holes: http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000003725182/peering-into-a-black-hole.html?emc=edit_au_20150609&nl=afternoonupdate&nlid=68634180 http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000003725182/peering... Those are some of the best. You should also keep an eye on the Event Horizon Telescope, mentioned in that video: http://eventhorizontelescope.org/index.html http://eventhorizontelescope.org/index.html