6 ms·
the extra mass is converted into energy in the form of gravitational waves (maybe other forms too idk but this is part of it)
by jraines 1y ago
the extra mass is converted into energy in the form of gravitational waves (maybe other forms too idk but this is part of it)
- maxbond 1y agoEntire solar masses being lost to gravitational waves, like the voltage drop across a resistor, is a humbling prospect.
- bot403 1y agoI'll underscore your awe by reminding you those solar masses disappeared in only 1 tenth of a second - the length of the gravitational wave signal.
- ikari_pl 1y agobut that's the time that passed here... it sounds like a mind-warpingly different perspective might have been seen there
- IAmBroom 1y agoI think you have it backwards. From the POV of someone near the Event Horizon, other space speeds up. Galaxies begin to spin at noticeable speeds.... But the black holes would appear to be approaching each other at "normal" speeds.
- Bluestein 1y agoDang
- nine_k 1y agoI suppose nothing but gravitational waves can escape the even horizon — or, rather, gravitational waves are born near / around it, because the black holes bend the space enormously. OTOH whatever else may be outside the black holes near the merger and count towards their mass for astronomical purposes, such as accretion discs, should be much lighter weight than what's inside the event horizon.
- ars 1y agoGravitational waves also can not escape. Those waves carry energy, and it's actually energy that can't escape. The waves are actually made just to the outside of the event horizon.
- thaumasiotes 1y ago> The waves are actually made just to the outside of the event horizon. How do we feel about this vis-a-vis action-at-a-distance?
- ars 1y agoGravity does action at a distance. That's its thing. The reason these waves are not generated from inside the black hole is that, to us, time stops there. For example these black hole mergers aren't actually merging, they are getting closer, and then they time dilate out of existence.
- thaumasiotes 1y ago> Gravity does action at a distance. That's its thing. Why does it need to travel in waves at the speed of light? If one mass moves, a distant mass is unaffected until the information reaches it. That's the opposite of action at a distance.
- ars 1y agoYour question is confusing. Action at a distance does not imply going faster than light, it means there is some sort of field connecting the two things.
- thaumasiotes 1y agoAction at a distance means there is nothing connecting the two things. That's the "distance" part of action at a distance. Modern physics rejects the concept, saying instead that forces are carried by particles from a source to a destination, and the effect of the force is the result of local [opposite of "distant"] interaction with the particles carrying the force. Compare wikipedia: > Under our modern understanding, the four fundamental interactions (gravity, electromagnetism, the strong interaction and the weak interaction) in all of physics are not described by action at a distance. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_at_a_distance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_at_a_distance ) Or: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_locality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_locality > This is an alternative to the concept of instantaneous, or "non-local" action at a distance. > The idea is that for a cause at one point to have an effect at another point, something in the space between those points must mediate the action. To exert an influence, something, such as a wave or particle, must travel through the space between the two points, carrying the influence. You'll note that "action at a distance" does in fact specifically mean that information travels faster than light! But this understanding would seem to be incompatible with the idea that the mass inside a black hole can interact gravitationally with anything outside the black hole.