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Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

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Re: Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

#141

Post by andrewflnr »

andrewstuart wrote: post #20

If you lived on a planet going around one of those stars it sure would be hard to make sense of the universe. "Oh I have it! In addition to all the incomprehensible things in the universe, we happen to live in a star system that is extremely, extremely rare and exeptional, unlike the rest of the universe!"

Since they're pulled together from the intergalactic medium, I'm pretty sure those stars and everything around them are pure hydrogen/helium. You'd need a few generations of star formation/nucleosynthesis before you could have rocky planets and carbon-based life.

Re: Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

#143

Post by mk_stjames »

The amount of science that the HST has produced and continues to produce is staggering; however I often comment that I find it a bit sad that most people don't know that we didn't just build 1 of them... we built more than a dozen of them, at a cost that dwarfs the program cost for the HST [0] But only the one with the instruments and mission direction that gives us scientific insight. It feels like such a shame.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KH-11_KENNEN

Re: Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

#144

Post by sph »

once_inc wrote: post #86

For those replying to this article with "imagine living there", please note that if life is a verdant, resilient and common as many of us hope it is, the universe might contain quite a number of insane places to live: - Near the center of a galaxy, where stars are so closely packed together that the night sky is filled with bright lights, perhaps illuminating their world to what we experience around twilight, or even…

> Inside a 'thick' nebula, obscuring all other entities in the sky except for their own star and planets. Imagine an interstellar object like Oumuamua passing through and the complete perplexity of a civilization observing it and wondering where it could have come from.

You'd be able to peer through the nebula with higher frequency bands than visible light, no?

If a civilisation is able to notice an interstellar object like ’Oumuamua, they are probably advanced enough to observe what's outside their nebula.

Re: Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

#145

Post by PM_me_your_math »

lmm wrote: post #72
mach1ne wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve heard that book(series?) pop up quite a lot recently. Is it worth a read?

No. It's a tedious slog, devoid of interest on any axis: characters, plot, worldbuilding and science are all paper-thin. Its popularity baffles me.

It was tedious, but so was Herodotus. Tedious does not mean uninteresting ...TBP was very interesting; especially the takedown of group-think revolutionary marxists. For example, and purposely vague to avoid spoilage, the young female guard's behavior echoes much of what we're seeing in today's colleges.

Re: Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

#146

Post by pavel_lishin »

joshuahedlund wrote: post #138
once_inc wrote: post #86

For those replying to this article with "imagine living there", please note that if life is a verdant, resilient and common as many of us hope it is, the universe might contain quite a number of insane places to live: - Near the center of a galaxy, where stars are so closely packed together that the night sky is filled with bright lights, perhaps illuminating their world to what we experience around twilight, or even…

> Near the center of a galaxy, where stars are so closely packed together that the night sky is filled with bright lights, perhaps illuminating their world to what we experience around twilight, or even brighter. My understanding is this is unfavorable for life due to any planets being constantly sanitized by too many nearby stars going supernova > Far removed from the center of a galaxy, or even on a rogue star that…

In a big-enough universe, all sorts of unlikely things end up happening.

Re: Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

#147

Post by Reubachi »

skripp wrote: post #132
lmm wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. It's a tedious slog, devoid of interest on any axis: characters, plot, worldbuilding and science are all paper-thin. Its popularity baffles me.

Did you read all three? The first one isn't great but as a trilogy I found it quite good. There are several places where the story building contradicts itself but if you are willing to look past those then it's solid science fiction. It's not on the level of Arthur C. Clarke or Asimov but they were obviosly big influences.

I found the first the best, second unbearable, and third absolutely not worth it given the slog of dark forest.

Liu's writing is incredible, but he reminds me of George RR Martin or.....bare with me..Vince McMahon. Unable to get beyond the "fleshing out" phase.

Re: Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

#148

Post by pavel_lishin »

skripp wrote: post #132
lmm wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. It's a tedious slog, devoid of interest on any axis: characters, plot, worldbuilding and science are all paper-thin. Its popularity baffles me.

Did you read all three? The first one isn't great but as a trilogy I found it quite good. There are several places where the story building contradicts itself but if you are willing to look past those then it's solid science fiction. It's not on the level of Arthur C. Clarke or Asimov but they were obviosly big influences.

I had the exact opposite thought - the first book was interesting and thought-provoking, while the other two just piled on more and more scifi concepts that (imo) have been better explored by other authors.

Re: Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

#149

Post by Reubachi »

maneesh wrote: post #107
mach1ne wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve heard that book(series?) pop up quite a lot recently. Is it worth a read?

The best sci-fi trilogy I’ve ever read. I don’t know why there is a lot of hate on hn towards it.

Some recommendations based on that: The Forever War trilogy is IMO the best "future war" mil sci fi series.

The standalone book Old Man's War is also incredible.

And of course....Hyperion is the king of the entire genre. If you haven't read those I'd highly recommend it, will change your life.

Re: Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

#150

Post by causi »

joshuahedlund wrote: post #138
once_inc wrote: post #86

For those replying to this article with "imagine living there", please note that if life is a verdant, resilient and common as many of us hope it is, the universe might contain quite a number of insane places to live: - Near the center of a galaxy, where stars are so closely packed together that the night sky is filled with bright lights, perhaps illuminating their world to what we experience around twilight, or even…

> Near the center of a galaxy, where stars are so closely packed together that the night sky is filled with bright lights, perhaps illuminating their world to what we experience around twilight, or even brighter. My understanding is this is unfavorable for life due to any planets being constantly sanitized by too many nearby stars going supernova > Far removed from the center of a galaxy, or even on a rogue star that…

According to a 2022 study, there are up to ten rogue planets for every one orbiting a star.
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