If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

Metalhed

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Posts: 1

If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

« on: June 27, 2011, 08:47:22 AM »

Then wouldn't we be slowly swirling right toward it, i know that scientists have said that our solar system is so far out, but still if not even light can escape the gravity of a black hole, then doesn't that mean that our solar system will be swallowed up one day?


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zesty

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Posts: 1

Re: If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2011, 11:30:30 AM »

There is a super massive black hole at the center. And we are swirling towards it. And one day it will swallow are solar system. But that's in billions of years so don't worry about it.


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Tricky_Dicky

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Posts: 1

Re: If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2011, 03:10:30 AM »

your missing a trick - centrepal force.


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Tiffany

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Posts: 23

Re: If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2011, 06:16:58 AM »

We are way out in the edge of the galaxy, the super massive black hole(s) is/are at it's center.
If CDs were molded after your way of thinking the laser would be reading the hole at the center of the CD. We are way out on the CD's outer edge on the 3rd to the last track, where the dam data + laser belongs.


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CogitoErgoCogitoSu

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Posts: 4

Re: If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2011, 06:49:05 AM »

Well, the Earth has been orbiting the sun for zillions of years, too. The Suns gravity hasnt swallowed us yet. This is a relatively stable orbit. We are orbiting the galactic center, as well. Not all orbits are stable though. Probably none are perfectly. The moon orbits the Earth and has been for zillions of years, but believe it or not the orbit is not stable - it is getting FURTHER away, not closer to us, and will eventually escape.


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Ottawa_Mike

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Re: If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2011, 08:05:35 AM »

We aren't "sucked" into that black hole for the same reason that the Moon doesn't crash into Earth or the planets into the Sun: angular momentum.

There nothing particularly special about a black hole. It exerts a gravitational attraction due to its mass, just like any other celestial body. What makes it different is its high density. The means the mass is much more compact which means if you can get a lot closer to the center of the mass and thus experience very high gravitational attraction.

For example, if the Earth was the same mass but its diameter was half as much, you would weigh four times as much on the surface.


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oklatonola

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Posts: 45

Re: If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2011, 10:55:51 AM »

The Solar System has too much mass, inertia and angular momentum to be swallowed up by the multimillion solar mass black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy


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zhuge_liang1

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Posts: 4

Re: If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2011, 12:16:30 PM »

The only reason that the Sun would be spirally in towards the center of the Milky Way is if it's orbit was decaying which it isn't.


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Mr__Immortel

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Posts: 15

Re: If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

« Reply #8 on: June 28, 2011, 01:00:05 PM »

Our solar system will never be swallowed by anything. The black hole is there to sustain the rotation of the galaxy and to recycle the celestial debris that gets out of place and that becomes excessive. It keeps the galaxy from becoming polluted by too much matter and energy. This includes keeping the dust down.

Some stars orbit very close to the black hole out of its tidal range of pull. The black hole keeps them revolving within the galaxy but does not have enough influence at its range to pull them toward it. It may be the region of the event horizon that also exerts an outward force to keep them at bay in their orbits. Any star that gets out of orbit, and thus too close to the black hole, will be recycled so as not to cause needless collisions and chaos.


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Morningfox

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Posts: 12

Re: If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky way?

« Reply #9 on: June 28, 2011, 01:18:04 PM »

At a distance of 500 million km or more, the black hole has exactly the same gravity as 4.3 million suns. The galaxy has a mass of about 500,000 million suns closer to the center than we are. If there was no black hole, the effect on the solar system would be that it would feel the gravity of 499,995.7 million suns.

But it doesn't really matter what the exact mass is that the solar system orbits around. The point is that it does orbit, and the orbit is stable, it doesn't get bigger or smaller. That's true for just about any orbit that doesn't hit anything, or get closer to a BH than about 10 times the BH size. Black holes don't have any magic that "reaches out" and sucks things in. They just have plain ordinary gravity (unless, like I said, you get within about 10 times the BH size -- and BHs are *small*). The gravity of 4.3 million suns, at a distance of 29,500 light years, is practically zero.

The supermassive BH has a size of about 0.3 AU, so you would need to get within 3 AU before the gravity started get special. That's about 0.00005 light years.


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