The Diner at the Center of the Galaxy

[glenc (Glen)]

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111230.html
The monster at the center of our Galaxy is about to get fed. Recent observations by the Very Large Telescopes indicate that a cloud of gas will venture too close to the supermassive black hole at the Galactic center. The gas cloud is being disrupted, stretched out, heated up, and some of it is expected to fall into the black hole over the next two years. In this artist's illustration, what remains of the blob after a close pass to the black hole is shown in red and yellow, arching out from the gravitational death trap to its right. The cloud's orbit is shown in red, while the orbits of central stars are shown in blue. The infalling nebula is estimated to contain several times the mass of our Earth, while the central black hole, thought to correspond to the radio source Sagittarius A*, contains about four million times the mass of our Sun. Once it falls in, nothing is expected to be heard from the doomed gas ever again.

[big_dav_2001 (Davin)]

Wow.. Pretty interesting read... Is there any implications for us living out here on the fringe??

[glenc (Glen)]

I think we are safe.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Then you'll hear a faint voice..."hello.....HELLO!!!. I'm the cloud you thought you'd never hear from again. I'm out the back here. There's nothing to these 'black holes'. It's just the back door to the diner!!!!. Tell the proprietors they need to fix the light out back here. It's too damn dark!!!!"

[Kevnool (Kev)]

If it one of those clouds made out of alcohol that i saw in a magazine a while ago then I will be devastated.

Cheers Kev.

[Baddad (Marty)]

Hi Glen,
Nice find. Thanks for sharing.
I have a friend in California. I only recently found out that he has an interest in astronomy. I have sent him the links you posted.
I wonder if he will join IIS. I haven't prompted him yet. I know that he can not justify buying a scope but we talk and discuss astronomy issues.

He will be quite thrilled with the cloud, as he was when he viewed the Comet Lovejoy links.

My friend's name is Marco. He is a musician. Plays in a band at the local clubs. Its because of that I assumed he was not into star gazing. I knew him for over a year before we realised we had further common interests.
If he does join IIS I would assume he will only be reading the posts and not much more. But who can predict what a muso will do. He may lash out for a big scope.

Thanks again Glen.

Cheers

[Baddad (Marty)]

Hi Again.

Well, I have to hand some credit to Glen. His post contributed to a new member joining. From California.
Braneyank.

Cheers

[glenc (Glen)]

Thanks Marty. I have done some observing in California a couple of times.

[stardust steve (Steve)]

i found this very interesting. What would happen(if possible) if a star were to go too close to that black hole. Would it get sucked into it? ?

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by stardust steve

i found this very interesting. What would happen(if possible) if a star were to go too close to that black hole. Would it get sucked into it? ?

It would get ripped to shreds then gradually sucked into the hole. However, the bigger the hole, the less chance of it being torn to pieces before the star crosses the event horizon. On a really large hole (several billion solar masses), the star would pass over the horizon with barely a ripple.

[stardust steve (Steve)]

Originally Posted by renormalised

It would get ripped to shreds then gradually sucked into the hole. However, the bigger the hole, the less chance of it being torn to pieces before the star crosses the event horizon. On a really large hole (several billion solar masses), the star would pass over the horizon with barely a ripple.

wow. Fascinating, thanks Carl.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Sorry about that -