5. “See” an Invisible Black Hole in Space: Marvel at its Magic
“See” an Invisible Black Hole in Space: Marvel at its Magic
Is Space Science Evidence-Based?
We now talk a lot about evidence based facts and knowledge. Space science is intriguing because it is scientific but mostly not evidence-based. Most parts seem unknowable, they are either scientific theories and speculation or the region of philosophy and belief rather than science. And what little we do know is called “rocket science” which is mostly incomprehensible to mere lay people like me even though it is fully evidenced. Nevertheless I compulsively read and watch anything about our universe and space, hunt for new discoveries in space science and remain intrigued by whatever NASA is doing. I get excited by new discoveries which are coming thick and fast. I hope we humans get to Mars in my lifetime. Just this month November 2018 NASA has landed a spacecraft to intensively explore Mars to prepare for us.
Space Myths are being Busted
In the past three or four years that myth about all of space being unknowable has been busted. Previously unseeable no-evidence natural forces like black holes and gravity waves have recently been detected and “seen” and therefore provide us with firm evidence that our universe is actually in its physical presence what we have hypothesized it should look like. Our theories have been complex, they nudge philosophy and metaphysics. But they are now coming alive, showing us evidence! Einstein’s prognostications that gravity waves and black holes existed are now proven. Einstein’s discoveries of mass-energy and space-time continuums 100 years ago, especially their appearance in atom bombs, frightened us about what else might come from the massive forces the universe could unleash. Quite suddenly in the last two decades our universe has come out of the closet in all its glory and smashed many of these fears. We can in some cases even “see” previously invisible phenomena. And they are relatively benign despite their awesomeness. Einstein is yet again our hero justifying our scientific efforts and creating more dreams about our universe.
An Accelerating Universe: It’s getting even Bigger
In 2011 Australian Brian Schmidt won the Nobel prize for physics (with two others) for discovering that galaxies in our universe were accelerating away from each other at an ever increasing pace, not decelerating as we had thought. Some scientists were even speculating that if we had decelerating galaxies, we might eventually get a universal gigantic cataclysmic implosion reversing the Big Bang! The visible universe is about 90 billion light years across but it is almost certainly much bigger because it’s expanding and there’s so much we haven’t yet “seen” with our instruments. And what is powering the acceleration? We don’t know. Speculation is that “dark energy” which makes up 70% of the universe is pushing everything apart. Incidentally dark energy is different from dark matter. The collective gravity of “dark matter”, 25% of the universe, is hypothesized to be the force holding galaxies together internally. Only 5% of the universe/cosmos lies in atoms, the physical presence we know about: stars, planets, humans and so on. So we don’t know much at all about 70% plus 25%, 95% of the universe.We only know some things about the 5% of matter/mass we can see with light through our telescopes and from waves we know how to measure. Thankfully Brian Schmidt together with thousands of other physicists, astronomers and cosmologists is continuing his space science research. He is also now Vice-Chancellor of ANU.
Gravitational Waves
Einstein had postulated gravitational waves existed. In 2016 the first direct observation of gravitational waves was made. Two merging black holes had sent out the invisible but incredibly fast ripples or waves through spacetime and we detected them. Gravitational waves transport energy as gravitational radiation, a form of radiant energy very different from the electromagnetic energy we know which comprises visible light, X-rays and microwaves. Up to this point in 2016 scientists have been using electromagnetic radiation to decipher the universe but now they have another way: with gravitational waves. These waves enable the study of the most energetic events in the universe, for example colliding black holes, merging neutron stars, exploding stars and even the birth of the universe itself through detecting and measuring the ripples these events have caused in the fabric of space and time. Because the universe is so incredibly huge, we are only now detecting these waves from events which happened a long time ago. Here is a link to a graphic description of what gravity waves are.
Gravitational Waves Video
Ripples in Spacetime Pond Video
Black Holes in Space
Black holes have been the most exciting parts of the unknown universe for me because I’ve always thought of them as being nothing, that part of space that science couldn’t explain, a default explanation that wasn’t and couldn’t become scientific. But in fact it’s the opposite.
A black hole is a region of spacetime with such strong gravitational effects that nothing – not even electromagnetic radiation such as light – can escape it. Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicts this: a sufficiently compact mass can deform spacetime to form a black hole.
Scientists think supermassive black holes formed at the same time as the galaxies they’re in. Stellar black holes can form from very massive stars collapsing in on themselves at the end of their life cycles. Black holes are so dense and heavy that they make enormous sinkholes or deformations in the spacetime fabric. They consume everything that comes close to their sinkhole and grow even bigger. They have been invisible to us in the past with our electromagnetic instruments because they emit no light or X-rays or microwaves or other waves we can detect . Black holes are only now “visible” because they distort ripples from gravity waves. Scientists have confirmed that we have a black hole in the centre of our Milky Way galaxy. They have also found black holes in every galaxy they’ve looked at. Black holes resolve some mysteries but throw up others. If all mass disappears in a black hole what happens to time? Can it escape? No it cannot. Near a black hole the slowing of time is extreme and it stops completely in the centre of the hole. I can’t understand how time can stop. Here is an impressive video showing space bodies circling a black hole we can’t actually see directly but it’s very clear from the bodies orbiting it that there’s a massive black hole in there! These direct observations and measurements inspired me to write this blog! It blew another of my myths.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000006142535/circling-a-black-hole.html
Inner Space Continues to be Investigated
As well as the awe-inspiring work investigating the outer universe, scientists are intensively progressing our inner universe space especially our solar system. Did you know there are about 1100 active satellites circling our planet earth? There are also about 2600 inactives which are now junk and causing safety concerns for the active communications and mapping satellites. For example satellites show us that North Korea may be building up nuclear sites rather than dismantling them as they promised. International movements of aeroplanes and ships can be tracked and can be viewed are visible on the internet. Spying satellites are common too. Google Earth has mapped all communities on earth and put them on the internet via satellites. It can show pictures of individual houses and streets as aerial photos in many western countries. The most important satellite is the international space station with astronauts from several countries on board. It is a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, spacecraft systems and they test equipment required for missions to the Moon and Mars. It orbits earth around 200 km above us and is re-energised by regular rebooting from other satellites.
If you have 25 minutes you will be fascinated by this video of life on the international space station
Tour of the Space Station Video
by America’s Sunita Williams commander of space station team in 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k
Is Einstein being Bypassed?
I was dismayed to read in the Weekend Financial Review 24/25 November 2018 an article by Dennis Overbye from the New York Times: Is Einstein Outdated? The article puts the proposition that some scientists are now following a path of hunting for multiple universes, the Multiverse, which is in direct contrast to Einstein’s search for a unified theory: The Final Theory of Everything which Einstein said would explain why there was no other way to put together the universe than the one we’re in. The “multiverse”, multiple possible parallel universes, was the path Steven Hawking was following when he died in March 2018. I’ve read that his work will be published posthumously as his greatest achievement, the one for which he was about to get the Nobel prize. However I can’t see how that detracts from Einstein’s immeasurable contribution. I don’t see harm in pursuing both pathways. After all there’s still a huge lot of investigation to be done to find out more about dark matter and dark energy, 95% of the universe, as well as continuing work with light and gravity waves.
How Does All This Translate into our Everyday Lives? Are Space Myths Busted on the Ground? Are the awesome discoveries being recognized?
Despite many space myths being well and truly busted, ignorance and wrecking of inconvenient truths continues. Did you know that 14 US States use tax dollars to teach creationism in their public schools? And this is despite the US Supreme Court having ruled the teaching of creationism as science in public schools to be unconstitutional. Creationistas are diehard religious fanatics who believe only God could create the universe and he did it in 6 days, just as the Bible says. This has been translated by 14 US States into classroom teaching despite all the science that documents and displays the natural forces shaping the universe. Populism then elects politicians who promise to implement ignorance. In the US, public schools are locally run and curricula locally shaped. Just as police forces are locally run. US conservatives are not only delusional about gun control, embedded racism in their laws and institutions, but also about not accepting science: in this case the birth of the universe, but also climate change and proper health care for children in some places. Aren’t we lucky in Australia to have large State education systems which follow a national curriculum pushing for science to be increased in depth and quality not decreased?
And We Now have a Space Agency
In Sep 2018 the Australian federal government announced $50m funding for an Australian space agency which will send satellite-bearing rockets into earth orbit, initially launching from other sites but in a couple of years from the Northern Territory. Like other industries, space has been “disrupted” and made accessible with new developments such as cheap rocket launches and smaller powerful satellites. So even though we’re late starting, it’s “all systems go” for Australia to take advantage of the enormous opportunities in the space industry. We have begun to design and build a modern space agency and promote space start-up companies some of which have already done deals with NASA. Megan Clark is CEO charges with steering Australia into the galaxy.
Australia is a lucky country after all.