Magazine - Year 2018 - Version 2
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Language: ENGLISH
Language: ENGLISH
The Mystery in the Outer Space: The Black Holes
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The Mystery in the Outer Space:
The Black Holes
There are mysterious objects in the outer space, called black holes. They have extremely high density and hence possess such a strong gravitational attraction, that even light cannot escape from their grip. Albert Einstein was the first to predict the existence of black holes in 1916 with his ‘General theory of relativity’. The term ‘black hole’ was coined later, in 1967, by American astronomer John Wheeler. The first black hole was discovered in 1971.
A black hole is said to be formed on the burning of a dying star which collapses and falls into itself. It contracts so rapidly that it starts collecting all resulting matter into itself. Gases rushing towards a black hole get heated up and start emitting x-rays. It has not been possible to establish a concrete theory of formation of a black hole as it is not possible to record any observations on the goings-on inside a black hole. However a black hole can make its presence felt on the basis of its effects on matters around it. Its presence can be surmised by recording observations on the movement of those stars which circle that part of the universe which is felt to be devoid of any matter.
Black holes can be very small or they can be large. Scientists feel that black holes can be as small as an atom but their mass is as big as a mountain. Other type of black holes has larger mass, many times that of Sun. These are classified into two types. One type of black holes has mass of a few dozen times that of Sun and are called stellar black holes. The other type of black holes has mass many million times that of Sun, and are called supermassive black holes. The galaxy containing our earth is called ‘Milky way’. This galaxy has supermassive black holes of a mass a million times or more that of Sun. Every major galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center. The supermassive black hole at the center of ‘Milky way’ galaxy is called Sagittarius – A* ; and has a mass 4 million times that of Sun.
On the formation of black holes scientists feel that small black holes got created with the initial formation of the universe. Stellar black holes got formed by the collapse of a very big star within its center or by destruction of the star, the phenomenon being called supernova. Scientists also feel that supermassive black holes got formed along with the formation of galaxies.
Black holes cannot be seen as light gets attracted at a great speed into it due to its tremendous gravity, but scientists have observed the effects generated by the black holes in the universe with the help of astronomical telescopes and have tried to find out the types of stars which get into orbits around the black holes. When black holes and stars are near one another intense light is generated which cannot be observed by human eyes, but observations can be recorded with the help of specific astronomical equipment. People, in general, have some misconceptions about black holes that they feed upon the stars, The Mystery in the Outer Space: The Black Holes Black is modest and arrogant at the same time. Black is lazy and easy - but mysterious. But above all black says this: “I don’t bother you - don’t bother me”. - Yohji Yamamoto 48 AKHAND JYOTI Jan.-Feb. 2018 moon and planets, and that some time our earth will also be engulfed by some black hole. These misconceptions are, however, baseless and incorrect as it is observed that no black hole is near the solar congregation. Even if some black hole is of mass equal to that of Sun - and therefore its gravitational force is the same as that of Sun - earth cannot be engulfed by the black hole, as in such a situation earth and the other planets will get into orbit around such a black hole, just as they are presently in orbit around the Sun.
A significant achievement came in 2015 when astronomers using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) made the first detection of gravitational waves. These waves were inferred to be coming from merging stellar black holes. LIGO’s observations also provided insights about the direction a black hole spins. As a pair of black holes spirals around one another, they can spin in the same direction or in counter directions. Indian origin LIGO researcher B. Sathyaprakash said - “This is the first time that we have evidence that the black holes may not be aligned, giving us just a tiny hint that binary black holes may form in dense stellar clusters.” How the binary black holes form? The first theory suggests that they formed at about the same time, from two stars that were born together and died explosively at about the same time.
The companion stars would have had the same spin orientation, so the black holes they left behind would, as well. The second theory suggests that black holes in a stellar cluster sink to the center of the cluster and pair up. These companions would have random spin orientations compared to one another. LIGO’s observations of companion black holes with different spin orientaons provide stronger evidence for this formation theory.
Though black holes are even now a great mystery for the scientists, some of our ancient scriptures provide hints about the utility of so-called black holes. There is anecdote in Mahabharat that Duryodhan served kheer (a sweet preparation of milk) infested with poison to Bheema to eat and then pushed him into the river so that he would get drowned and killed. But (perhaps through some such black hole) Bheema reached another universe called Paatal Loka, where he was welcomed and offered a liquid preparation to eat, which destroyed all the poison in his body and he gained strength equal to thousands of elephants. Then, the king of Paatal Loka, Nagaraja sent him back to earth.
Similarly there is story of a learned person ‘Bandee’ in the kingdom of King Janak. He invited all for a debate on spiritual matters with the condition that whoever would be defeated would be killed by him by drowning in the sea. In spite of this warning many learnedpersons came to him for the debate and had to get drowned in the sea on getting defeated. Eventually to protect the learned people Saint Ashtavakra had to come for the debate.
The narration further states that when Saint Ashtavakra defeated Bandee in debate, instead of drowning him Saint Ashtavakra asked him to bring back the other learned individuals. On this Bandee admitted that he had not drowned and killed the individuals in the sea, but had sent them with their physical bodies to Varuna Loka through a special route, as the learned Brahmins were needed there for a yajna organized there. This indicates the existence of some black hole or specific route through which the learned persons were sent to Varuna Loka by drowning them in the sea.
In the present times, we all know about the mysterious Bermuda Triangle in Atlantic Ocean. All the ships and airplanes passing through this route have been lost mysteriously without any trace. All equipment like radars, radios, wireless and compass start malfunctioning on approaching this region and ultimately stop functioning totally and thus all such equipment lose contact with the rest of the world. Therefore this region has been declared out of bounds for any journey by ships and airplanes.
This is indicative of the existence of some black hole in the ocean. It is possible that black holes form the nodal points (or junctions) on the faster routes in the universe which facilitate easy travel in the universe and allow entry into other universes. Perhaps, future research will be able to unravel these secrets of black holes and thus pave the way to explore other worlds
There are mysterious objects in the outer space, called black holes. They have extremely high density and hence possess such a strong gravitational attraction, that even light cannot escape from their grip. Albert Einstein was the first to predict the existence of black holes in 1916 with his ‘General theory of relativity’. The term ‘black hole’ was coined later, in 1967, by American astronomer John Wheeler. The first black hole was discovered in 1971.
A black hole is said to be formed on the burning of a dying star which collapses and falls into itself. It contracts so rapidly that it starts collecting all resulting matter into itself. Gases rushing towards a black hole get heated up and start emitting x-rays. It has not been possible to establish a concrete theory of formation of a black hole as it is not possible to record any observations on the goings-on inside a black hole. However a black hole can make its presence felt on the basis of its effects on matters around it. Its presence can be surmised by recording observations on the movement of those stars which circle that part of the universe which is felt to be devoid of any matter.
Black holes can be very small or they can be large. Scientists feel that black holes can be as small as an atom but their mass is as big as a mountain. Other type of black holes has larger mass, many times that of Sun. These are classified into two types. One type of black holes has mass of a few dozen times that of Sun and are called stellar black holes. The other type of black holes has mass many million times that of Sun, and are called supermassive black holes. The galaxy containing our earth is called ‘Milky way’. This galaxy has supermassive black holes of a mass a million times or more that of Sun. Every major galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center. The supermassive black hole at the center of ‘Milky way’ galaxy is called Sagittarius – A* ; and has a mass 4 million times that of Sun.
On the formation of black holes scientists feel that small black holes got created with the initial formation of the universe. Stellar black holes got formed by the collapse of a very big star within its center or by destruction of the star, the phenomenon being called supernova. Scientists also feel that supermassive black holes got formed along with the formation of galaxies.
Black holes cannot be seen as light gets attracted at a great speed into it due to its tremendous gravity, but scientists have observed the effects generated by the black holes in the universe with the help of astronomical telescopes and have tried to find out the types of stars which get into orbits around the black holes. When black holes and stars are near one another intense light is generated which cannot be observed by human eyes, but observations can be recorded with the help of specific astronomical equipment. People, in general, have some misconceptions about black holes that they feed upon the stars, The Mystery in the Outer Space: The Black Holes Black is modest and arrogant at the same time. Black is lazy and easy - but mysterious. But above all black says this: “I don’t bother you - don’t bother me”. - Yohji Yamamoto 48 AKHAND JYOTI Jan.-Feb. 2018 moon and planets, and that some time our earth will also be engulfed by some black hole. These misconceptions are, however, baseless and incorrect as it is observed that no black hole is near the solar congregation. Even if some black hole is of mass equal to that of Sun - and therefore its gravitational force is the same as that of Sun - earth cannot be engulfed by the black hole, as in such a situation earth and the other planets will get into orbit around such a black hole, just as they are presently in orbit around the Sun.
A significant achievement came in 2015 when astronomers using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) made the first detection of gravitational waves. These waves were inferred to be coming from merging stellar black holes. LIGO’s observations also provided insights about the direction a black hole spins. As a pair of black holes spirals around one another, they can spin in the same direction or in counter directions. Indian origin LIGO researcher B. Sathyaprakash said - “This is the first time that we have evidence that the black holes may not be aligned, giving us just a tiny hint that binary black holes may form in dense stellar clusters.” How the binary black holes form? The first theory suggests that they formed at about the same time, from two stars that were born together and died explosively at about the same time.
The companion stars would have had the same spin orientation, so the black holes they left behind would, as well. The second theory suggests that black holes in a stellar cluster sink to the center of the cluster and pair up. These companions would have random spin orientations compared to one another. LIGO’s observations of companion black holes with different spin orientaons provide stronger evidence for this formation theory.
Though black holes are even now a great mystery for the scientists, some of our ancient scriptures provide hints about the utility of so-called black holes. There is anecdote in Mahabharat that Duryodhan served kheer (a sweet preparation of milk) infested with poison to Bheema to eat and then pushed him into the river so that he would get drowned and killed. But (perhaps through some such black hole) Bheema reached another universe called Paatal Loka, where he was welcomed and offered a liquid preparation to eat, which destroyed all the poison in his body and he gained strength equal to thousands of elephants. Then, the king of Paatal Loka, Nagaraja sent him back to earth.
Similarly there is story of a learned person ‘Bandee’ in the kingdom of King Janak. He invited all for a debate on spiritual matters with the condition that whoever would be defeated would be killed by him by drowning in the sea. In spite of this warning many learnedpersons came to him for the debate and had to get drowned in the sea on getting defeated. Eventually to protect the learned people Saint Ashtavakra had to come for the debate.
The narration further states that when Saint Ashtavakra defeated Bandee in debate, instead of drowning him Saint Ashtavakra asked him to bring back the other learned individuals. On this Bandee admitted that he had not drowned and killed the individuals in the sea, but had sent them with their physical bodies to Varuna Loka through a special route, as the learned Brahmins were needed there for a yajna organized there. This indicates the existence of some black hole or specific route through which the learned persons were sent to Varuna Loka by drowning them in the sea.
In the present times, we all know about the mysterious Bermuda Triangle in Atlantic Ocean. All the ships and airplanes passing through this route have been lost mysteriously without any trace. All equipment like radars, radios, wireless and compass start malfunctioning on approaching this region and ultimately stop functioning totally and thus all such equipment lose contact with the rest of the world. Therefore this region has been declared out of bounds for any journey by ships and airplanes.
This is indicative of the existence of some black hole in the ocean. It is possible that black holes form the nodal points (or junctions) on the faster routes in the universe which facilitate easy travel in the universe and allow entry into other universes. Perhaps, future research will be able to unravel these secrets of black holes and thus pave the way to explore other worlds
