Slashdot Mirror
Scientists Discover Teeny Tiny Black Hole
AbsoluteXyro writes "According to a Space.com article, NASA scientists have discovered the smallest known black hole to date. The object is known as 'XTE J1650-500'. Weighing in at a scant 3.8 solar masses and measuring only 15 miles across, this finding sheds new light on the lower limit of black hole sizes and the critical threshold at which a star will become a black hole upon its death, rather than a neutron star. XTE J1650-500 beats out the previous record holder, GRO 1655-40, by about 2.5 solar masses."
They say LHC-001 will be even smaller!
(But who will be there to measure...?)
But XTE J1650-500 is so bland! I think we should name it Mooseknuckle.
Fears raised collider would create black holes that could swallow planet
Is this the point where they say we'll need to re-think our theories on black hole evapouration too? But first, let's switch on the LHC and see what happens...
HILARITY!
I see we weren't the first to build a large hadron collider.
It may look cute now. But they grow up.
So, we've now discovered the biggest and smallest black holes known to exist within about a week of each other.
When we find the most average, space bears will come and blast us into porridge.
Astronomy kicks ass.
But is anyone else seeing these Russian bride adverts all over the site?
True theyve probably got a good market to advertise to, Helena wont need as much inflating as your LatexLove3000 but it just seems odd to see them all over Slashdot.
About 10^68 yr. Bring a book.
Bemopolis
"I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain
It's not the size of your black hole that matters, it's how you manage your singularity.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
If that happens, what are we going to do!? Capitan Picard hasn't been born yet! Hell, even Kirk isn't around yet....
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
This newly discovered Black Hole is the final result of a Large Hadron Collider, that caused a microsopic black hole on the third planet formerly circling the former star now known as 'XTE J1650-500'. So, this is not a naturally occuring black hole, but an alien-created one. Sadly this alien species is now extinct so they can't tell us how to avoid their mistake.
as long as Stephen Hawking is still alive, I am sure he can handle it. After all Stephen Hawking beat all the other great scientists in poker with Commander Data in the far future, so he should be smarter than Picard or Kirk. If anyone knows how to reverse a black hole it would be Hawking.
Besides never apply a Star Trek solution to a Babylon Five problem.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
I'd love to know XTE J1650-500's secret. I've tried diet and exercise, but I'm still only down to 3.9 solar masses and 16 miles across.
Sure you can measure what's going on past the event horizon of a black hole. All you have to do is make your camera's velocity exceed the force created (or rather possessed) by a photon going at the speed of light, and presto! You now have a camera that can probe farther into the gravimetric field of a black hole than light by itself.
Unless you're one of those General Relativity literalists. *shudder*
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle
Sorry to break this to you, but you are rather mediocre at technobabble.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
for those wanting to find the article later, I strongly suggest Slashdot's own search instead of googling for the words "teeny", "tiny", "black" and "hole" :|