Andromeda Galaxy Secret

Just found this, a video from 2007 compiled from NASA data. I hope that you enjoy it!

A zoom diving deep into the nucleus of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) then dissolving into an animation of a concentration of red stars. Pushing deeper into the animation reveals a disk of young blue stars swirling around a black hole. Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) revealed this disk of young blue stars that were swirling around a black hole in M31 in much the same way that the planets in our solar system revolve around the Sun. Astronomers are perplexed about how the pancake-shaped disk of stars could form so close to a giant black hole. In such a hostile environment, the black hole's tidal forces should tear matter apart, making it difficult for gas and dust to collapse and form stars. The observations, astronomers say, may provide clues to the activities in the cores of more distant galaxies.

If anyone is wondering, the secret is a pretty big deal. Of course, the video in and of itself is pretty astounding. The secret they are getting at is that it was thought improbably (though not impossible) for new stars to form so very close to a black hole, especially so many.

Is there anything I missed that a more knowledgable person on ATS can explain as well?


(Image Link Added - Image Upload Temporarily Disabled At This Time)

Anyway, if you're in it for the dazzling images, or the info, I hope you liked it either way.

Hubble finds mysterious disk of blue stars around a black hole

The blue light is coming from a disk of hot, young stars. These stars are whipping around the black hole in much the same way as planets in our solar system are revolving around the Sun. Astronomers are perplexed about how the pancake-shaped disk of stars could form so close to a giant black hole. In such a hostile environment, the black hole's tidal forces should tear matter apart, making it difficult for gas and dust to collapse and form stars. The observations, astronomers say, may provide clues to the activities in the cores of more distant galaxies.

By finding the disk of stars, astronomers also have collected what they say is ironclad evidence for the existence of the monster black hole. The evidence has helped astronomers rule out all alternative theories for the dark mass in the Andromeda Galaxy's core, which scientists have long suspected was a black hole.

"Seeing these stars is like watching a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. You know it happened but you don't know how it happened," said Tod Lauer of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. He and a team of astronomers, led by Ralf Bender of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, and John Kormendy of the University of Texas in Austin, made the Hubble observations. The team's results will be published in the Sept. 20, 2005 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.


www.spacetelescope.org...

ETA: Seems strange to me that nature would have a need to create a star next to a black hole. I guess that some things in nature go to waste, though that's a cop out in a way. We don't know what happens inside a black hole, so it could be beneficial to something. Well, now my head hurts.

Why, do you ask? I guess if you hop down to my first reply you will see. I went a little more into detail.

Cool vid. There was no audio. Was that supposed to be a blackhole at the center or something?

Originally posted by sonofliberty1776
Cool vid. There was no audio. Was that supposed to be a blackhole at the center or something?

Yes, black hole in the middle and the strangeness they were getting at was that there shouldn't be so many new stars near it. Matter should be ripped apart that close, and instead a star is allowed to condense under it's own (competing) gravity. That's like watching dirt clump up around the outside of the drain, but again, that's not 100% truthful. Dirt clumps because of friction with the ground, unless there's some sort of friction outside a black hole, well... now you see why my head hurts.

I'm trying to figure out the math in my head that would explain a gravitational friction outside a gravity well. I'm thinking it has something to do with the time dilation experienced/observed between an object outside the gravitational pull and inside it.

The observer on the outside sees the object almost freeze in time. The object on the inside feels no time dilation. How could a star form if it is essentially going to fall into the largest gravity vaccum in the cosmos.

reply to post by sbctinfantry


I did enjoy the video, but hey, I 'm a sucker for space, I' ll fall for any video with stars and planets and galaxies and... Ok, you get the picture! Although, I am pretty sure that these aren't stars that are just now forming, these are stars twirling super fast around the black hole. This twirl is caused by the extreme gravity of the black hole, which attracts stars to its direction. The stars will eventually be swallowed by the black hole.
So this is not the birth of some stars, but more like their death.
Still, doesn't change the fact that it's beautiful, really beautiful! S&F!

reply to post by sbctinfantry


all i know about andromeda is that the milky way and andromeda are set to collide in about 4.5 billion years. see you there!

Originally posted by Bonkrh
reply to post by sbctinfantry

 

all i know about andromeda is that the milky way and andromeda are set to collide in about 4.5 billion years. see you there!

Wow, I thought the urgency of this post meant that we were going to be colliding in 3... 2...1!!

Interesting video none the less. S&F

Originally posted by Bonkrh
all i know about andromeda is that the milky way and andromeda are set to collide in about 4.5 billion years. see you there!

Kewl, maybe we gonna get new, shiny, imported sun

Originally posted by Cobaltic1978
Wow, I thought the urgency of this post meant that we were going to be colliding in 3... 2...1!!

Interesting video none the less. S&F

I guess I can see how that would be misleading, I hadn't even considered that. That is an interesting point, however. If new suns are being born outside a black hole, and they believe that it is massive, what would that do to the milky way? What would the combined black holes do to the supergalaxy and what will it look like once it's all over?

I think that double the black hole means a much sparser galaxy, or at least a very violent one. Could see a quasar form in the middle while everything sorts out.

Of course, we'll be long dead before then.