Tag: black holes

• The darkness at the center of the galaxy

  Since 1995, a team of astronomers led by Andrea Ghez has been studying the motion of stars near the center of the Milky Way. They just announced the discovery that one of those stars is the closest to the black hole yet, with an orbital period of about 11.5 years—short enough that they’ve been able…

  Matthew R. Francis

  October 4, 2012

  Ars Technica, Writing for Other Sites

  black holes, infrared astronomy, Milky Way

• High-resolution image of supermassive black hole shows engine of destruction

  A collection of four big telescopes in Arizona, California, and Hawaii have banded together to examine one of the biggest black holes we know: the beast at the heart of the galaxy M87. What they found: the disk of gas driving M87’s huge jet rotates the same direction as the black hole that made it.…

  Matthew R. Francis

  September 27, 2012

  Galileo’s Pendulum, Writing for Other Sites

  astronomy, black holes, ergosphere, event horizon, M87

• Black holes don’t suck!

  So This Physicist Walked Into a Bar….. I gave a talk last week at Science Pub RVA, a local (Richmond, Virginia) gathering of science enthusiasts. At the link above, you can read a (long) summary of my presentation, including the images I used.

  Matthew R. Francis

  September 11, 2012

  Galileo’s Pendulum, Public speaking, Writing for Other Sites

  black holes, Galileo’s Pendulum