Most Incredible Black Hole Discoveries

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Most Incredible Black Hole Discoveries

Since they were first theorized by John Michel in 1783, we’ve gleaned only a little information about black holes. They’re impossible to observe directly, after all. Still, what we’ve learned about these mysterious phenomena has mind-boggling implications.

10 - The Help of Movie Magic

Back in 2014, Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster Interstellar not only broke a lot of brains, but it brought with it a brand new toy for astrophysicists to play with. The writing and directing team got to have fun on the playground, portraying a more fantasized reality of a black hole. The visual effects crew had the harder job of making that black hole look as realistic as possible. This wasn’t something any other film had tried doing, at least not with the precision and detail needed. With the help of prominent physicist Kip Thorne, the special effects team created a computer program that would accurately render a black hole from up close.

Their code, Double Negative Gravitational Renderer, or DNGR, not only accounted for light and energy surrounding and entering the film’s black hole but it did so in IMAX-level high definition. What we see on screen in the film isn’t exactly how a real black hole would function -- that’s the danger of Hollywood, after all. Some of the numbers had to be fudged to pretty up the black hole for the audience. Despite that, the DNGR code itself is extremely accurate -- enough so that NASA contacted the crew about using their code in experiments.

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9 - Two Sizes Fit All

Black holes are classified based on their two basic sizes: big and really really big. The not-quite-as-big type is a stellar black hole. These have masses 10-24 times that of our Sun’s, contained within an infinitely small, reality-bending point known as a singularity. Their name come from their origin. When the most massive stars explode in a supernova blast, they implode into themselves to become incredibly dense. Their gravities nearly rip holes in the fabric of reality, trapping anything nearby in these stellar black holes’ orbits until they disappear forever like water flushing down the drain.

The really really big type of black hole has the same name as that cool Muse song from Twilight: supermassive black hole. These monsters can have anywhere from millions to billions of solar masses within the same infinitely small singularities as their smaller siblings. As the densest objects in the universe, their gravities are strong enough to form galaxies. Most, if not all, galaxies have a supermassive black hole at their centers, like spiders in their webs, drawing their prey ever closer before finally striking.

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8 - First Image of a Black Hole

Perhaps it’s old hat by this point, but last year the world was astounded when scientists unveiled the first image of an active black hole. The Event Horizon Telescope had pointed itself at Messier 87’s supermassive black hole 53.5 million light-years away for a week to capture as much as they could. Since the EHT is composed of not a single telescope but 8 synchronized around the world, the photo had to be stitched together over 2 years.

As it was put together, piece by piece in the Universe’s most elaborate puzzle game, the team in charge held their breaths to see whether or not Einstein’s theory of relativity, the lynchpin for current black hole theory, was correct. If not, we’d have to change our understanding of physics entirely. What the telescope captured was the Eye of Sauron made real -- and it amazingly matches predictions for what a black hole and its event horizon would look like. Even Interstellar’s DNGR-simulated black hole matches the real thing, meaning our understanding of the universe is safe… for now.