Black Hole Photo

Scientists have known about Black Holes for a long time. Some believe that every Galaxy has a Black Hole at its core. However, there has never been a photograph taken of a black hole. Afterall, how do you take a picture of something that is so powerful, that not even light can escape it? Do we not need light to take an image of something?

Well, scientists are working on a possible way to do just that. Here is the article.... New Telescope to Take First-Ever Black Hole Photo

Trips To Other Worlds

So let's say we hopped in a brand new 2010 Camaro and drove to another planet. How long would it take us? Below is the approximate amount of time it would take to drive from Earth to each planet at a comfortable 75 MPH. Non stop of course, so you better hit the bathroom before you leave.

Earth to the Moon = 221,331 miles / 75 mph = Almost 123 Days

Earth to Venus = 25 million miles / 75 mph = Just over 38 Years
Earth to Mars = 33.9 million miles / 75 mph = Just over 51.5 Years
Earth to Mercury = 48 million miles / 75 mph = Just over 73 Years
Earth to Jupiter = 365 million miles / 75 mph = Just over 555.5 Years
Earth to Saturn= 739.68 million miles / 75 mph = Just over 1,125.8 Years
Earth to Uranus= 1.6 Billion miles / 75 mph = Just over 2,435 Years
Earth to Neptune = 2.68 Billion miles / 75 mph = Just over 4,079 Years

As you can see, to drive the distance might be a little longer than any of us want to spend on the road. Even if it is in space and in a Camaro. But what about if we took an American Space Shuttle? The space shuttle orbits the Earth at about 17,500 mph.

Earth to the Moon = 221,331 miles / 17,500 mph = Just over 12.6 Hours

Earth to Venus = 25 million miles / 17,500 mph = Almost 2 Months (59.52 Days)
Earth to Mars = 33.9 million miles / 17,500 mph = Just over 2.5 months (80.71 Days)
Earth to Mercury = 48 million miles / 17,500 mph = Almost 4 months (114.3 Days)
Earth to Jupiter = 365 million miles / 17,500 mph = Almost 2 Years and 5 months
Earth to Saturn= 739.68 million miles / 17,500 mph = Almost 4 Years and 10 months
Earth to Uranus= 1.6 Billion miles / 17,500 mph = Almost 10.5 Years
Earth to Neptune = 2.68 Billion miles / 17,500 mph = Almost 17.5 Years

Still too long of a trip? Cant get enough vacation time? So what if we had a space ship from a good movie that travels at the speed of light? Light travels at the speed of 186,282 Miles per Second. Or 670,615,200 MPH.

Earth to the Moon = 221,331 miles / 17,500 mph = About 1.19 Seconds

Earth to Venus = 25 million miles / 17,500 mph = About 2 minutes, 14 seconds
Earth to Mars = 33.9 million miles / 17,500 mph = About 3 minutes, 2 seconds
Earth to Mercury = 48 million miles / 17,500 mph = About 4 minutes, 18 seconds
Earth to Jupiter = 365 million miles / 17,500 mph = About 32 minutes, 39 seconds
Earth to Saturn= 739.68 million miles / 17,500 mph = About 1 Hour, 6 minutes, 11 seconds
Earth to Uranus= 1.6 Billion miles / 17,500 mph = About 2 Hours, 23 minutes, 9 seconds
Earth to Neptune = 2.68 Billion miles / 17,500 mph = About 3 Hours, 59 minutes, 47 seconds

So just imagine that. If you pointed a flash light at Neptune and turned it on. That first ray of light would take almost a full 4 hours to reach Neptune.

Black Hole

A Black hole is a region of space where the gravitational pull is so strong that absolutely nothing can escape it. Not even light! Because light cannot escape it, there is no actual photos of one and quite literally, they are invisible.

Many scientists believe that there are millions of black holes in the universe and in some cases there are even what we call "Supermassive Black Holes". The supermassive black holes lie at the center of galaxies and in fact there is even one at the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way.

Contrary to popular myth, the black hole is not a giant hole in space that sucks everything towards it and eventually into it. Around each black hole is a surface known as the Event Horizon. Around the Event Horizon, is another region known as the Schwarzchild Radius. One would have to cross into the Schwarzchild Radius in order to be caught up in the gravitational pull of a black hole.

To get an idea of how small this region is, if a black hole was to be the same size as our Sun, the Schwarzchild Radius would be less than 2 miles from the surface of the black hole.

Where do Black Holes come from?

When a star is burning, it is pushing its fuel outwards as it burns. When it runs out of fuel, it can explode into what is known as a Supernova. If a star that is more massive than 3 of our suns was to become a Supernova, it would leave a remnant behind that is completely empty of space. With the gravitational pull then being at zero, it would collapse in upon itself instantly, creating a black hole.

Imagine throwing a rock into water. As the rock passes into the water, for an instant, it leaves behind it an empty space. Instantly the water collapses in upon that empty space to fill that void. When a star explodes, it leaves the same kind of void and space instantly collapses to fill it. When the star is massive enough, the collapse is so powerful it creates a gravitational pull that is so powerful it becomes a black hole.

Where Did the Moon Come From?

For the most part, most scientists have agreed on how the Moon as we know it, came about, but there are several small variations of that belief. This is the one that I believe makes most sense.

When the Earth was still a very young planet, another planet around the size of Mars collided with it. It is believed that early in time when most planets were still forming, there was a lot more activity in the universe. The energy created by these two bodies colliding turned the surfaces into a molten texture, sending large amounts far into the atmosphere and out into space.

The heavier materials like Iron did not go so high and was absorbed into the molten surface of Earth and became a part of the Earth's core. This giant impact of the two planets explains two things. One being why the Earth's axis is tilted around 23.5 Degrees. The other being the creation of the moon.

The debris from the impact that made it to space, much of it was caught up in the gravitational pull of the Earth and began to orbit the Earth. As well as orbiting the Earth, the debris was also drawn towards itself and began to congregate into the moon. Of course, the heavier materials were drawn closer to Earth as it merged with the other elements, so as the moon solidified into one body, the heaviest portion was drawn towards the Earth. This is the reason why the moon always has the same face pointing towards the Earth.

Imagine putting a baseball inside of a large plastic ball with a string attached to the baseball. If you were to take the end of the string and begin to swing the balls around you, the baseball would only go so far before hitting the end of the length of string. The large plastic ball would push outwards until it was being held by the baseball inside of it. In a strange way, this is how the Moon works. You would be the Earth. The string would be gravity pulling on the heavier baseball, which is the heavier materials of the moon. The large plastic ball that is trying to swing further away but is held by the baseball that is inside of it, that is the lighter materials of the moon being held by the heavier materials.

Since the heavier materials are being pulled towards the Earth by gravity and that solidified with the lighter materials as they were orbiting the Earth, once everything solidified into the moon, its orbit stayed the same. So the heavier side of the Moon is always facing the Earth.

Then, of course, as the Earth continued to form, it slowly turned into the Earth that we live in today.