Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2019 October 1

                           Black Hole Safety Video
    Video Credit: NASA's GSFC, SVS; Music: Prim and Proper from Universal
                              Production Music

   Explanation: If you were a small one-eyed monster, would you want to
   visit a black hole? Well the one in this video does -- but should it?
   No, actually, but since our little friend is insistent on going, the
   video informs it what black holes really are, and how to be as safe as
   possible when visiting. Black holes are clumps of matter so dense that
   light cannot escape. Pairs of black holes, each several times the mass
   of our Sun, have recently been found to merge by detection of unusual
   gravitational radiation. The regions surrounding supermassive black
   holes in the centers of galaxies can light up as stars that near them
   get shredded. The closest known black hole to the Earth is V616 Mon,
   which is about 3,300 light years away. The best way for our monster
   friend to stay safe, the video informs, is to not go too close.

                 Tomorrow's picture: found floating in space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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