Milky Way Black Hole Could Reignite

sciencehabit sends us to Sciencemag.org for an account of a survey of nearby galaxies that points to the possibility that once-quiescent galactic nuclei could wake up and become active again. If the Milky Way's dormant black hole should become active, it could be bad news for life on Earth (and elsewhere in the neighborhood). The paper (PDF) is up on the arXiv.

Comments

Protect yourself

[Beavertank]

Remember kids, just like government mind control rays the gamma ray bursts generated by our galaxy's black hole center can be blocked by a tin foil hat.

You may want a tin foil codpiece, too.

Re:Eye muss bee knew hear

[Dan East]

"The way the black hole could turn into a quasar is for the galaxy to collide with another galaxy."

That's not what the article says:
It's not understood what is causing the black holes to become newly active, because in most cases there is no evidence of collisions or mergers.

Re:Eye muss bee knew hear

[DirkGently]

Because black holes can only "eat" so fast.

As matter accelerates and gets closer and closer to the event horizon, particles begin bouncing into each other, like outside that one Who concert. Except in this case, instead of being crushed to death (as those concert-goers), centripetal force slings matter towards the poles of the hole with enough energy to achieve escape velocity. This creates a massive beam of ultra-high energy particles that would be very bad for your health. Well, two beams (one "up" and one "down"), but you get the idea.

Re:oblig.

[infonography]

Worst. Trek. Movie. Ever. Don't be so hasty, there are plans for many more....