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Monster Black Hole Busts Theory

Genocaust writes "A stellar black hole much more massive than theory predicts is possible has astronomers puzzled. Stellar black holes form when stars with masses around 20 times that of the sun collapse under the weight of their own gravity at the ends of their lives. Most stellar black holes weigh in at around 10 solar masses when the smoke blows away, and computer models of star evolution have difficulty producing black holes more massive than this. The newly weighed black hole is 16 solar masses. It orbits a companion star in the spiral galaxy Messier 33, located 2.7 million light-years from Earth. Together they make up the system known as M33 X-7."

20 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. A giant black hole? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    They should name it Goatse.

  2. sturgeon's law redux by Speare · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sturgeon's Law (paraphrased): 90% of everything sucks.

    Just goes to show, that when you think it can't suck any worse, you find it can suck a LOT worse.

    --
    [ .sig file not found ]
  3. Re:Supermassive black holes by RuBLed · · Score: 5, Informative
    It seems that they are in separate divisions/classes. This should explain it.

    While 16 solar masses is hefty for a stellar black hole, it is miniscule compared with the black holes thought to lie in the heart of many large galaxies. Such "supermassive" black holes have masses millions to billions times that of our sun, but they are thought to form by mechanisms different from the stellar variety.
  4. Re:Supermassive black holes by shawn(at)fsu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They mentioned that in the article. Mister Scientist thinks their are different mechacisms at work that produce the super massive black holes at the centre of galaxies. I was wondering though, is it possible that a black hole of this mass could me produces in a trinary solar system where two black holes merge, in this case leaving you with a 16 solar masses and orbiting the remain star?

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  5. Re:Supermassive black holes by StikyPad · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If theory says that black holes beyond 10 solar masses cannot form, how do they explain the conjectured supermassive black holes

    Like This.

    Or, more pedantically, black holes may never form at all from the point of view of an observer outside the event horizon.

  6. Residents of companion star get bad rap.... by robinsonne · · Score: 5, Funny

    It orbits a companion star in the spiral galaxy Messier 33

    It's not messy, it's got a lived-in, homey feel to it you insensitive clod!!!

  7. Computer models of Supernovae by confused_demon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For this discussion it's worth keeping in mind that current computer models have real problems actually getting supernovae to explode. At one point it was so bad that I heard someone say, "If it weren't for the fact that we occasionally observe one explode, I would assure you that they cannot." It's only been in the last couple of years that someone has made a computer model that actually did it.

    1. Re:Computer models of Supernovae by Leperous · · Score: 4, Interesting
      "It's only been in the last couple of years that someone has made a computer model that actually did it."

      Not true. As a numerical relativitist, I can tell you that no decent 3D simulations of supernovae currently exist.

      Half the problem is that the physics is simply unknown - is it sufficient for your model to contain rotation, magnetic fields, and what about the equation of state of the plasma? Neutrinos are also thought to play an incredibly important role in the supernova explosion mechanism, and subsequent nucleosynthesis (and other processes) that go on during the supernova event itself. The other half is the sheer computing power to evolve your equations over decent time scales with enough resolution, not to mention making sure the numerical methods you employ work.

      There are plenty of groups who are currently working towards 3D evolutions without any neutrino transport, and I think some people have done neutrinos in 1D. Try checking out some of the work by Leibendorfer, for example.

      A quick run down of the supernova event though, since the article skims over it very lightly: heavy elements gradually build up at the core (nickel and iron especially), and nuclear fusion shuts down due to their high binding energies. As a result, outwards pressure ("thermal support") is lost, and at some critical moment the core will rapidly collapse onto itself (on a timescale of less than a second) as gravity becomes the dominant force. The outer layers will also in-fall onto this collapsing core.

      Depending on the mass of the star, we'd expect the core to collapse into some kind of 'proto' neutron star, or straight into a black hole, if it's massive enough. In the case of the former, neutrinos escaping from the cooling central proto neutron star deposit energy into the outer layers, and drive the actual supernova explosion-event. In the case of the latter, I'm not sure that you'd actually see much of a supernova since neutrinos wouldn't be able to escape from a black hole - or at least the explosion mechanism would be different. There is an 'intermediate' option though: a proto neutron star that later on collapses into a black hole, from the still in-falling outer layers. If this happens you'd expect both a black hole, and pretty violent supernova to boot.

      I'm not sure about the numbers presented in the article either. Typically, stars above 8 solar masses will collapse and create a supernova and neutron star remnant. Stars over 20 solar masses should form a neutron star which later collapses into a black hole (as is the case here). Stars over 50 solar masses or so will probably just collapse straight into a black hole, with unknown supernova mechanisms.

  8. Re:Supermassive black holes by jd · · Score: 5, Insightful
    What if you have an n-ary system in which two or more supermassive stars are sufficiently close together that after the supernova, the total mass exceeds 10 solar masses even though no individual star did? (Since the star cores would merge at the common center of gravity, they would behave as a single remnant of the combined mass, NOT as individual collapsing objects.) Alternatively, if the black hole forms in a regular fashion but is in a dense enough zone - or a zone that has an obscenely large number of extra-solar supermassive planets - that it absorbs six or more solar masses before it can evaporate a comparable amount of mass, you'd reach the desired mass. Thirdly, my guess is that all simulations assume point singularities (probably the most common kind, assuming black hole theory is correct), which means that they won't be including Kerr Ring singularities or any of the other Really Weird Forms that have been predicted.

    I'm sure that there are ways to fudge things so that the desired mass can be reached. Or, there again, the simulations could be wrong. That happens, for all that Michael Fish wishes otherwise. Well, maybe not. He stands to make a lot of money from his new book because of that fiasco.

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  9. Re:In the Dark by value_added · · Score: 5, Funny
    It amazes me at how much we DON'T know.

    The following may help to explain things (taken from an Slashdot post):

    Indeed. In fact there is no light either. The Sun sucks dark. In fact it
    sucks dark so hard that the friction of the dark moving to the Sun
    causes the Sun to be very hot. The flow of dark towards the Sun
    interrupted by the Earth causes the side of the Earth away from the Sun
    to accumulate dark, thus causing Night. As the Earth rotates the dark
    caught on the night side can then be pulled off, this causing the
    absence of dark known as Day.

    What we call light bulbs are truly dark suckers as well. That is why
    light bulbs are hot, just like the Sun. When a light bulb is full of
    dark and won't suck dark any more, it cools off. If you look in old
    light bulbs you can even seen the accumulation of dark.

    Dark is also heavier than water. This can be seen in the oceans where
    the deeper you go the darker it gets.
  10. The internet has ruined my mind. by game+kid · · Score: 5, Funny

    Never mind things like Goatse. Thanks to the internet, the only word in the title that doesn't yet have dirty connotations to me is "theory".

    Heck, some are working to change that too.

    --
    You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
  11. Re:Supermassive black holes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just FYI: after binary comes TERNARY, not trinary. Don't feel bad, though, it's a very common mistake which I myself have made before being corrected.

  12. hmm by thatskinnyguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One black hole consumes another black hole creating one gigantic gravitational singularity. Case closed.

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    The game.
    1. Re:hmm by Kingrames · · Score: 4, Funny

      your black hole theory sucks.

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  13. Re:Supermassive black holes by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 5, Informative

    *Stellar* black holes are black holes that originate from the aftermath of a single star going supernova.

    Super-massive black holes like what exist at the center of a galaxy don't have a well understood origin, but it is supposed that if a black hole is created in a region of space with a great deal of matter in the vicinity, it may gobble up a lot of it, adding to its mass until it becomes super-massive.

    A stellar black hole that's so big it shouldn't be possible for it to have been created by the usual supernova, and in a region of space sufficiently vacant to rule out the gobbling theory, is what is being puzzled over.

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  14. Pairs don't merge very often by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Informative

    Another issue is the unlikely chance of paired stars crashing into each other. After one partner blows its top at the end of life, it usually loses some mass such that the distance between them INcreases, making them even less likely to touch or enter friction zones. (Being a black hole by itself does not increase its gravitational pull over a star of the same mass). If they are going to merge, they would more likely do so during the regular life, and we'd see samples of such massive stars. But we don't, mainly because there is an upper limit to the size of a stable star.

    Further, large stars have short lives, meaning that the time for friction to rub them closer to each other is shorter.

    However, it is true that a collision of two big mid-life stars may itself trigger a supernova because the total mass exceeds a stable size, and thus a very large black hole is formed. This may result in a black hole that *looks* like it came from a star larger than the max stable size of a star because its exceeding the stable limit itself is what triggered the formation of the hole. In short, there may be a limit to stable star size, but not to unstable star size.

  15. Re:Supermassive black holes by ozbird · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A stellar black hole that's so big it shouldn't be possible for it to have been created by the usual supernova, and in a region of space sufficiently vacant to rule out the gobbling theory, is what is being puzzled over.

    The region of space is vacant now - it doesn't mean that it was when the black hole was feeling peckish.

  16. Re:Supermassive black holes by chthon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wouldn't it be : In Soviet Russia, you eat black holes ?

  17. Re:Supermassive black holes by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, if they were making a joke, they would have mentioned the supermassive black hole shown at goatse.cx, which is far bigger than most nerds thought possible.

  18. Re:Supermassive black holes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    In Soviet Russia, you eat black holes In Russia, black holes are referred to as 'frozen stars', because 'black hole' in Russian is a slang term referring to the anus. Which leads to a rather unintentional interpretation of your post.