Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Extraordinary Evidence
for an Incredible Idea

http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

A Brief Summary of Black Holes

Stellar-mass black holes
The most massive stars end their lives in titanic
explosions, leaving nothing behind but their ultra-
dense collapsed cores.

Mid-mass black holes

A new class of recently-discovered black holes
have masses on the order of hundreds or
thousands of stars.

Supermassive black holes

The centers of galaxies contain giant black holes,
with the masses of millions, even billions, of stars.

We cannot see black holes directly, but their influence

on the matter around them reveals their presence.
Representations above are artists’ impressions, and not to scale.

http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Basically there are two

types of views:-

1)Visible Light View

2)X-Ray Light View

http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

X-ray Binary: Visible Light View

Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Many of the stars in our universe come in pairs. Ordinary stars
orbiting around a black hole will appear to “wobble” in the sky.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

X-ray Binary: X-ray Light View

NASA / CXC / SAO

More dramatically, matter being pulled off the orbiting star, into
the accretion disk of the black hole, glows brightly in x-rays.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Globular Cluster: Visible Light View

W. Keel (U. Alabama), et al.. 1.54-m Telescope, Chile

Globular clusters are large, dense clusters of stars.
These stars are among the oldest stars in our universe.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Globular Cluster: X-ray Light View

NASA / CXC / CfA/J. Grindlay & C. Heinke

Stars orbiting around black holes inside these ancient clusters
are revealed by the x-ray glow of matter around them.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Milky Way Center: Visible Light View

W. Keel (U. Alabama), et al.. 1.54-m Telescope, Chile

The heart of our galaxy is a veritable soup of stars, gas, and
dust. On a clear night in a dark sky, the view is breathtaking.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Milky Way Center: X-ray Light View

NASA / U.Mass / D. Wang, et al.

Lurking within our galaxy’s hot, turbulent center are x-ray
binaries, neutron stars, and even a supermassive black hole.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Spiral Galaxy: Visible Light View

NOAO / AURA / NSF/ T. Boroson

Like our own Milky Way, M74 is a majestic spiral. The swirling
spiral arms house a menagerie of stars and stellar material.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Spiral Galaxy: X-ray Light View

NASA/CXC / U. Michigan / J. Liu et al.

X-ray observations of strange new sources provide evidence
for a new class of black holes, with the mass of 10,000 stars.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Spiral Galaxy: Multi-wavelength View

NASA / CXC / U. Michigan / J. Liu et al.

NOAO / AURA / NSF / T. Boroson
Combining x-ray and visible light observations can pinpoint the
locations of black hole, providing a more complete picture.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Spiral Galaxies: An X-ray Gallery

NASA / CXC / SAO / R. DiStefano, et al.

Thanks to the Chandra X-ray Observatory, these “mid-mass”
black holes are becoming part of the story for all galaxies.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Elliptical Galaxy: Visible and X-ray Views

Digital Sky Survey

NASA / CXC / UVA / C. Sarazin, et al.

Indeed, most (if not all) galaxies are now thought to house a
variety of black holes, ranging in mass from small to large.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Deep Field Galaxies: X-ray View

NASA / CXC / PSU /D. M. Alexander, F. E. Bauer, W. N. Brandt, et al.

Looking out deep into space and back in time, we see
supermassive black holes in the cores of the earliest galaxies.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Centaurus A: Visible Light View

M. Rejkuba (ESO-Garching) et al., ISAAC, VLT

ANTU telescope, ESO Paranal Observatory
Centaurus A is a nearby galaxy that is thought to be the result
of a merger of two smaller galaxies. What’s behind the dust?
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Centaurus A: X-ray Light View

NASA / SAO / R. Kraft, et al.

A telltale sign of a black hole is a high-energy jet blasting into
space. This galaxy has a supermassive black hole in its center!
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Elliptical Galaxy: Visible and X-ray Views

Palomar Observatory, Digitized Sky Survey NASA / CXC / M. Forman, et al.

The elliptical galaxy M87 also houses a monster in its middle:

the most massive black hole yet observed in our universe.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/
Real Images of Actual Black Holes

Black Holes Galore!

NASA/CXC/U.Amsterdam/S.Migliari et al.

NASA/CXC/SAO/H.Marshall et al.
NASA/CXC/MIT/F.K.Baganoff et al.

X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/UCSB/P.Ogle et al.

NASA/UMD/A.Wilson et al.
Optical: NASA/STScI/A.Capetti et al

From the formation of galaxies to the deaths of stars,

black holes are an integral part of our universe’s history.
http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/