4 ms·
From the article: "A search for the X-ray signatures of low-mass black hole binaries in the Chandra data turned up 12 within three light-years of Sgr A*." Thr
by spchampion2 9y ago
From the article:
"A search for the X-ray signatures of low-mass black hole binaries in the Chandra data turned up 12 within three light-years of Sgr A*."
Three light years is not that big of a distance in the grand scheme of things. For reference, the nearest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.2 light years away. Having 12 binaries within 3 ly sounds really dense. Having several hundred sounds crazy.
- ttul 9y agoThe night sky at the galactic Centre is white
- mannykannot 9y agoI am sure the region is stunningly starlit, but if it were Olber's-paradox- bright, would not the dust in the region also be glowing white-hot?
- metaobject 9y agoAFAIK, we are unable to see the center of the galaxy with visible-spectrum sensors due to the immense amount of dust and gas. We can see the center with IR sensors, however.
- pdonis 9y ago> the nearest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.2 light years away. Having 12 binaries within 3 ly sounds really dense. Having several hundred sounds crazy. Not at the center of the galaxy. Stars are much closer together on average there than they are way out here in the boonies where we are.
- saiya-jin 9y agoWhich makes me think - if the area is relatively dense with black holes, quite often (on galactic time scale) there must be super close encounters with stars, sometimes BH swinging right through a sun (that might be a bit of a stretch)! Imagine that spectacle, devouring whole sun throwing off/swallowing it potential planets. I am sure we would be able to see it as huge burst with our current sensors. Plus there might be huge amount of smaller and tiny BH wreaking all kinds of havoc to everything. Pretty wild place to be