Reply to post: Re: Scientists 5: Politicians 2 - a clear victory!

America's democracy on the brink, Brexit looming, climate crashing... when better to get the first fast radio burst from our own galaxy?

Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward

Re: Scientists 5: Politicians 2 - a clear victory!

Imagine a black hole many times the size of the visible universe. Right next to us. How would you detect it?

Could we see the blackness? No, because space is stretched out so there is no direction towards the black hole*

Could we see the spiralling into the black hole? No, because we assume light travels in a straight line, we cannot see the curve.

The unevenness of space? Again no, our speed of light would change the same as the matter we compare it against. Distorted space affects both. It appears to be even in all directions because its the same distortion as the matter we measure it against for any given direction.

Before the comment police descend on us, I should point out the article mentions "super massive black hole" and yet they're really not. All the black holes we note are tiny and far away.

* Well apart from a dot, a point at which the stretching is one way round the black hole and flips to the other way around.

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