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NEWS > SCIENCE > RACE ON TO SAVE PLANETS BEING PULVERIZED BY BLACK HOLE
RACE ON TO SAVE PLANETS BEING PULVERIZED BY BLACK HOLE
November 4 2011
London, U.K. – There are mysteries beyond the imagination out in space, processes both natural and created that are far beyond our experience, things of which we can only dream despite our growing understanding of existence. There may come a day when we understand a much larger chunk of those things, but for now, we are only on the precipice if understanding them.
Despite our limitations, though, we have been able to see certain things occurring and understanding, at least basically, how they work and possibly what we can do to prevent our own corner of the universe from being afflicted by them. In particular, that means avoiding complete and utter destruction by things like black holes, which scientists believe may very be happening right now at the centre of our galaxy.
The new hypothesis postulates that the massive dust clouds swirling at the centre of observable galaxies may in fact be remnants of planets and other bodies being chewed up by black hole and then consumed, a fate which may eventually befall our own little blue marble. That possibility has sparked action by scientists concerned that without immediate action we may very soon find ourselves pulled into a gaping gravity well and destroyed completely.
“Near a supermassive black hole, velocities are hundreds to a few thousand kilometers per second. hitting an Earth-size planet with a solid object a few kilometers across could fragment [the planet] into lots of smaller fragments that, over time, become nothing more than dust,” said Sergei Nayakshin of the University of Leicester.
It’s believed, that at such a velocity, no planetary body including our own would be able to stay intact.
The researchers have not outlined a plan that would save our own planet from such a fate, but did indicate that with more research, and more money to fund that research, an eventually solution could be had.
“The centre of the galaxy is quite distant, very far away and while we may eventually be sucked into it we are likely talking billions of years. A small amount of time in the scope of existence perhaps, but hardly a pressing concern for people today, which is going to make it difficult to round up cash,” said Scrape TV Science analyst Dr. Howard Poe. “Getting people worked up about things that will happen next year is very difficult, never mind something that will happen long after every living thing on this planet has been destroyed. That is really where the money should be going, research into stopping the sun from dying.”
The Sun, in a few billion years, will expand and burn off the surface of Earth before collapsing into a dead body, which will likely eventually also be sucked into the black hole.
“No one wants to see the planet sucked into a black hole or to have it pulverized into tiny little bits. That is not the ideal situation and not something we would want for our former home, but the truth is most of us will be long dead before that happens and getting people worked up about something like that is always a challenege,” continued Poe. “People don’t like to hear about what might happen somewhere way down the road. They like to hear about the things that benefit them immediately and this, well, this is not that. It’s much more of a long term project than most people are comfortable paying for.”
The Sun will begin its death phase in about 5 billion years, a blink of the eye in universal terms.
Anna Phillips, Science Correspondent
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