5 ms·

Mysterious giant objects discovered in center of our galaxy

189 points by Mitt 15y ago

epscylonb 15y ago
I wonder what impact these phenomena would or could have on planets like earth.
- elorant 15y ago
  Gamma-ray bursts could destroy the ozone layer which filters the ultraviolet rays of the sun. Ultraviolet radiation could destroy all plants and make living on the surface unbearable. It’s not an extinction level event but it’s pretty ugly .
  - jeangenie 15y ago
    >>It’s not an extinction level event but it’s pretty ugly . Depends on the intensity, duration, & proximity of the radiation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst#Rates_and_potential_effects_on_life_on_Earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst#Rates_and_poten...
da02 15y ago
"The bubbles are just the natural x-ray results from the electromagnetic z-pinch nuclear effect in the middle of our galaxy." From: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/02/image-of-the-day-galaxy-sized-bubbles-extending-from-the-milky-way.html?cid=6a00d8341bf7f753ef014e5f7439ab970c#comment-6a00d8341bf7f753ef014e5f7439ab970c http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/02/image-of-the-da... Not that I agree or disagree. It just seemed interesting from the Electric Universe perspective. More discussion here: http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3371&start=0 http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&...
- ThomPete 15y ago
  Hehe very diplomatic seeding of EU theory.
  - da02 15y ago
    I'm willing to shut up about EU if I get enough complaints. I barely understand the details. It's interesting though. I was curious about thorium reactors and ended up there after reading some James Hogan articles published on a private-property anarchist website. Who knew.
ck2 15y ago
Besides the black hole? Hmm. We really need to get the James Webb telescope up there - if congress cancels that I will never forgive them.
oscilloscope 15y ago
These are theorized to be produced by relativistic jets from a black hole in the galactic nucleus. Astronomical entities eject streams of matter along their axis or rotation. The energy comes from infalling matter (accretion disks). In the case of our sun, the accretion disk turned into planets and no longer powers strong polar jets. In the case of active galactic nuclei, an incredible amount of energy is released as matter falls into the black hole. Particles are ejected at a significant fraction of the speed of light, transferring energy to the interstellar medium. Galaxies moving quickly relative to an intergalactic medium can have helical trails, rather than bubbles. The jets precess (wobble) like the Earth or a top, which produces two helical paths. Tracing these paths is used as a tool to study cluster mergers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativistic_jet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativistic_jet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_jet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_jet
- dhimes 15y ago
  I'm not sure you are talking about the same thing. These bubbles are thought to come from a black hole "eating" a star, and are a relatively recent result. You are talking about a long-known polar jet from an accretion disk. See the article linked in my other comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3723535 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3723535 EDIT: to clarify, the new result is a further development of the previous ideas.
  - oscilloscope 15y ago
    A black hole pulls material off of the star it "eats", creating an accretion disk. Artist's conception: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Accretion_disk.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Accretion... But you're right- the bubbles are not the jets themselves. The bubbles would be interstellar gas energized by the relativistic particles. As the gas diffuses, it spreads from the jet's cone into a large bubble.
dhimes 15y ago
This article is over a year old. See also http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27211/ http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27211/
- davidw 15y ago
  ... and yet, its information is just now reaching us across the vastness of the internet.
brianbreslin 15y ago
Question: could gamma rays such as these be collected to be used for energy consumption? Maybe a gamma engine? Hoping someone smarter than me can answer this theoretical q.
- InclinedPlane 15y ago
  No. While the individual energy of a single gamma ray can be very high the total energy flux of all of the gamma rays is quite low, many orders of magnitude less than the power available from ordinary sunlight. Also, it's very difficult to convert gamma rays into electrical power efficiently.
  - brianbreslin 15y ago
    thanks. they were saying this stuff exists at billions of volts, thus my question.
    - InclinedPlane 15y ago
      Electron Volts are a unit of energy. It's basically the amount of energy that is released from a single electron travelling through an electric potential difference of one volt. Ten billion electron Volts is a lot of energy for a single particle but it is still one billionth of a single Joule.
    - elorant 15y ago
      Just to give you a perspective, one trillion electronvolts is the kinetic energy of a flying mosquito.
sdfjkl 15y ago
Warrior Raiel.
rorrr 15y ago
Your mom?

189 points by Mitt 15y ago

epscylonb 15y ago

I wonder what impact these phenomena would or could have on planets like earth.

elorant 15y ago
Gamma-ray bursts could destroy the ozone layer which filters the ultraviolet rays of the sun. Ultraviolet radiation could destroy all plants and make living on the surface unbearable. It’s not an extinction level event but it’s pretty ugly .
- jeangenie 15y ago
  >>It’s not an extinction level event but it’s pretty ugly . Depends on the intensity, duration, & proximity of the radiation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst#Rates_and_potential_effects_on_life_on_Earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst#Rates_and_poten...

da02 15y ago

"The bubbles are just the natural x-ray results from the electromagnetic z-pinch nuclear effect in the middle of our galaxy." From: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/02/image-of-the-day-galaxy-sized-bubbles-extending-from-the-milky-way.html?cid=6a00d8341bf7f753ef014e5f7439ab970c#comment-6a00d8341bf7f753ef014e5f7439ab970c http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/02/image-of-the-da... Not that I agree or disagree. It just seemed interesting from the Electric Universe perspective. More discussion here: http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3371&start=0 http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&...

ThomPete 15y ago
Hehe very diplomatic seeding of EU theory.
- da02 15y ago
  I'm willing to shut up about EU if I get enough complaints. I barely understand the details. It's interesting though. I was curious about thorium reactors and ended up there after reading some James Hogan articles published on a private-property anarchist website. Who knew.

ck2 15y ago

Besides the black hole? Hmm. We really need to get the James Webb telescope up there - if congress cancels that I will never forgive them.

oscilloscope 15y ago

These are theorized to be produced by relativistic jets from a black hole in the galactic nucleus. Astronomical entities eject streams of matter along their axis or rotation. The energy comes from infalling matter (accretion disks). In the case of our sun, the accretion disk turned into planets and no longer powers strong polar jets. In the case of active galactic nuclei, an incredible amount of energy is released as matter falls into the black hole. Particles are ejected at a significant fraction of the speed of light, transferring energy to the interstellar medium. Galaxies moving quickly relative to an intergalactic medium can have helical trails, rather than bubbles. The jets precess (wobble) like the Earth or a top, which produces two helical paths. Tracing these paths is used as a tool to study cluster mergers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativistic_jet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativistic_jet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_jet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_jet

dhimes 15y ago
I'm not sure you are talking about the same thing. These bubbles are thought to come from a black hole "eating" a star, and are a relatively recent result. You are talking about a long-known polar jet from an accretion disk. See the article linked in my other comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3723535 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3723535 EDIT: to clarify, the new result is a further development of the previous ideas.
- oscilloscope 15y ago
  A black hole pulls material off of the star it "eats", creating an accretion disk. Artist's conception: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Accretion_disk.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Accretion... But you're right- the bubbles are not the jets themselves. The bubbles would be interstellar gas energized by the relativistic particles. As the gas diffuses, it spreads from the jet's cone into a large bubble.

dhimes 15y ago

This article is over a year old. See also http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27211/ http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27211/

davidw 15y ago
... and yet, its information is just now reaching us across the vastness of the internet.

brianbreslin 15y ago

Question: could gamma rays such as these be collected to be used for energy consumption? Maybe a gamma engine? Hoping someone smarter than me can answer this theoretical q.

InclinedPlane 15y ago
No. While the individual energy of a single gamma ray can be very high the total energy flux of all of the gamma rays is quite low, many orders of magnitude less than the power available from ordinary sunlight. Also, it's very difficult to convert gamma rays into electrical power efficiently.
- brianbreslin 15y ago
  thanks. they were saying this stuff exists at billions of volts, thus my question.
  - InclinedPlane 15y ago
    Electron Volts are a unit of energy. It's basically the amount of energy that is released from a single electron travelling through an electric potential difference of one volt. Ten billion electron Volts is a lot of energy for a single particle but it is still one billionth of a single Joule.
  - elorant 15y ago
    Just to give you a perspective, one trillion electronvolts is the kinetic energy of a flying mosquito.

sdfjkl 15y ago

Warrior Raiel.

rorrr 15y ago

Your mom?