HEAPOW: Monsters Under the Bed (2017 Jan 23)

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bystander
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HEAPOW: Monsters Under the Bed (2017 Jan 23)

Post by bystander » Mon Jan 23, 2017 3:38 pm

Image HEAPOW: Monsters Under the Bed (2017 Jan 23)

Buried deep within the dust are monsters: supermassive black holes. If we're fortunate, we can see where the dangers lie and study their outrageous behavior. They usually can be found at the centers of galaxies, and many are not shy, and reveal their presence through outpourings of radio, optical and X-ray radiation. But some are harder to see. For some reason, most, if not all, supermassive black holes are surrounded by enormous, thick, doughnut-shaped structures of dust and gas. This dust screen can effectively hide the supermassive black hole if we happen to view the black hole through it. For example, the supermassive black hole in NGC 1448, one of the brighter galaxies near the Milky Way, was unseen for years. An indication of the presence of this supermassive black hole was only discovered 8 years ago through reprocessed infrared radiation produced near the black hole and detected by the Spitzer Space Telescope, which showed that the black hole actually produced more than one quarter of the galaxy's infrared radiation. Now, NASA's newest black hole finder, NuSTAR, has been able to directly detect X-rays from the black hole itself. NuSTAR can do this because it observes at very high X-ray energies that can pass unobscured through the thickest walls of dust. The image above shows a composite of the NuSTAR image (in purple) superimposed on an optical image of NGC 1448. The purple-blue emission at the center of the galaxy shows the high energy X-rays arising from NGC 1448's supermassive black hole.

NuSTAR: Black Holes Hide in Our Cosmic Backyard
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Re: HEAPOW: Monsters Under the Bed (2017 Jan 23)

Post by neufer » Mon Jan 23, 2017 4:13 pm


Art Neuendorffer

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Re: HEAPOW: Monsters Under the Bed (2017 Jan 23)

Post by Ann » Tue Jan 24, 2017 12:46 am

I don't know. I wouldn't want a black hole under my bed. How much damage it would do depends on its size, I suppose: I read somewhere that the tiniest black holes might only be able to eat a molecule, maybe just an atom, at a time. On the other hand, I believe that the tiniest black holes might suffer the most tremendous cases of indigestion and disintegrate in violent explosions, which wouldn't be too good for my bed, or for me, if I was in it.

But your monster, Art... come on. Is that the best you can do?
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Re: HEAPOW: Monsters Under the Bed (2017 Jan 23)

Post by neufer » Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:44 am

Ann wrote:
But your monster, Art... come on. Is that the best you can do?
  • Pretty much.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters,_Inc wrote:

<<Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film centers on two monsters employed at the titular Monsters, Inc.: top scarer James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (John Goodman) and his one-eyed partner and best friend Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal). Monsters, Inc. employees generate their city's power by targeting and scaring children, but they are themselves afraid that the children may contaminate them; when one child enters Monstropolis, Mike and Sulley must return her.

Randall "Randy" Boggs is a Cianfa Donati-inspired purple, impatient, multi-legged lizard monster with a chameleon-like ability to change skin color and blend in completely with his surroundings. He is Sulley's nemesis and Mike's arch-rival and former best friend. During the final battle, Randall is thrown through a door by Sulley into the human world and winds up in a house trailer whose inhabitants beat him senseless, believing him to be an alligator. In the prequel Monsters University, Randall (nicknamed as "Randy") enrolls at the same time as Mike Wazowski and the two end up as friends and roommates. He is insecure and shy at first, having trouble controlling his camouflage abilities. Randall soon becomes more ambitious, confident, and short-tempered after joining Roar Omega Roar. After an embarrassing failure at the Scare Games to Sulley, Randall becomes evil and vows to himself to never be outdone by Sulley again ("That's the last time I lose to you, Sullivan!").>>
Art Neuendorffer

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