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Black Holes' Growth Measured

Posted by timothy on from the not-pritikin dept.

Tei'ehm Teuw writes: "In an article from NASA@Today.gov, astronomers are concluding that monstrous black holes weren't simply born big but instead grew on a measured diet of gas and stars controlled by their host galaxies in the early formative years of the universe. These results, gleaned from a NASA Hubble Space Telescope census of more than 30 galaxies, are painting a broad picture of a galaxy's evolution and its long and intimate relationship with its central giant black hole. Though much more analysis remains, an initial look at Hubble evidence favors the idea that titanic black holes co-evolved with the galaxy by trapping a surprisingly exact percentage of the mass of the central hub of stars and gas in a galaxy." This seems an affront to my simplistic understanding of black hole behavior, but heck, we're not even sure black holes exist, anyhow.

1 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Those poor black holes... by hypergeek · · Score: 5
    astronomers are concluding that monstrous black holes weren't simply born big but instead grew on a measured diet of gas and stars controlled by their host galaxies in the early formative years of the universe.

    Great... I can just picture a black hole support group.

    Black Hole 1: Hi, I'm Globulax, Swallower of Galaxies... I've been a black hole for billions of years.

    Rest of Black Holes (seated on uncomfortable folding chairs): Hi, Globulax!

    Black Hole 2: It's okay... we're all Black Holes here... nobody's judging you...

    Globulax: <sniffle> Well, I wasn't born big... I was raised on a measured diet of gas and stars controlled by my host galaxy...

    Black Hole 2: Don't worry... with time, you'll learn to control your cravings...go on... it's good to let these emotions out...

    Globulax: I feel so unwanted... so unloved... even light tries to escape my event horizon... <sob>... and... and... scientists aren't sure if I even exist! Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

    Black Hole 2: There, there. It's okay, Globulax. Come on, everybody, let's all give Globulax a big group hug!

    The Black Holes sympathetically converge near Globulax. Unfortunately, their gravity is too strong, and they swallow each other into one ultra-massive Super Hole, whose gravity gobbles up everything in the vicinity and rips a large tract of spacetime to shreds...

    Black Holes (in unison): Oops!

    Black Hole 2: Great... there go our folding chairs...

    --
    Stay up hacking each weekend. Sleep is for the week.