Elina Rabinovich: Black Hole Finder

New Eyes Probing the Universe: NuSTAR - "The Black Hole Finder Mission". Dr. Charles Hailey, Kellas 104, Thursday 10:00 am – 11:00 am

Black Hole Finder by Elina Rabinovich

If you are anything like I used to be, and I am sure you are, BBC’s Doctor Who, or CBS’s Star Trek are the primary source for your entire knowledge of Black holes (and space in general). Unfortunately, that information isn’t exactly scientific fact, no matter how badly we might sometimes want it to be. On April 11th at 10am, you can learn some more reliable facts from Dr. Charles Hailey from Columbia University. Dr. Hailey will take us on an exciting hunt through the known universe for black holes.

Black holes are formed from the death of stars in supernova explosions. If the original star was big enough, about three times the size of the sun, and then when it dies it becomes a black hole. According to NASA (2013), a black hole is not the absence of anything: it is actually so much matter packed into such ‘small’ space that it creates a gravitational pull so large that even light can not escape its grasp. Since we are unable to see black holes, even with telescopes that detect x-ray light, one of the only ways we can observe black holes is through the area surrounding them. If, for example, a black hole will pass too closely to another star, then the black hole will essentially eat that star. While eating that star, they can produce massive amounts of radiation that can essentially give life to new stars.

Black holes are found in the center of most galaxies, even our own Milky Way (Spotts, 2011). Scientists believe that there are two different types of black holes: stellar black holes which range anywhere from three to ten times bigger then our sun, and super massive black holes, which are billions of times larger than our sun. (Kruesi, 2012). The black hole in our Milky Way is a much smaller version of the giants out there. The massive black holes that were recently discovered in other parts of the universe could fit into an orbit that was five times the size of our former planet Pluto. (Spotts, 2011).

When these giants are eating other stars, they produce something called “hard x-rays” (Columbia, 2012). Dr. Charles Hailey was able to create a telescope called the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope array, or NuSTAR (NBC News, 2012), that can see this radiation or “hard x-rays” that black holes give off. This telescope has 133 mirrors, all of which are specifically angled so that light will hit the mirrors a certain way, and the x-rays will be detectable. Scientists suggest that this telescope will help us understand how black holes consume their fuel sources and grow (Daily Galaxy, 2012). The telescope created by Dr. Hailey will be orbiting space for the next two years.

Dr. Hailey is a professor at Columbia University. He obtained his B.A in 1977 from Cornell University and his Ph.D. at Columbia in 1983. Before teaching physics he was a research scientist and then a program leader for the physics department at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he also worked at KMS Fusion, Inc. as a senior research scientist. He now teaches experimental astrophysics and partial astrophysics (Columbia, 2011).

With this type of technology we will be able to see an unconceivable number of black holes. Though what is more amazing about this technology that Dr. Hailey has created, is what we might yet discover. There are so many unknowns in the universe, things that we might never understand, but Dr. Hailey’s work brings us one step closer to understanding the universe we live in and what is in our astrological backyard. So come down on Thursday, April 11th at 10am and let Dr. Charles Hailey open your eyes to the known, and maybe even some of the unknown universe.



References

Chown, Marcus. "Black Hole Universe." New Scientist 211.2826 (2011): 38-40. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.

Clark, Stuart. "Secret Supernovae." New Scientist 214.2863 (2012): 38-41. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.

Columbia University, 2012. “Black-hole Hunter”
Retrieved from: http://magazine.columbia.edu/explorations/fall-2012/black-hole-hunter

Columbia University, 2011. Charles J. Hailey
http://www.astro.columbia.edu/profProfile/cHailey/

Kruesi, Liz. "HOW WE KNOW BLACK HOLES EXIST. (Cover Story)." Astronomy 40.4 (2012): 24-29. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.

Moskowitz, Clara, 2012. “Nasa blasts NuSTAR telescope into orbit to hunt black holes”
Retrieved from: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/47798276/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/nasa-blasts-nustar-telescope-orbit-hunt-black-holes#.UT3wfKV0obo

NASA, 2013. “Black Holes”
Retrieved from: http://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/black-holes/

Spotts, Pete. "Discovery of biggest black holes ever may shed light on galaxy formation." Christian Science Monitor 08 Dec. 2011: N.PAG. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.

Talcott, Richard. "BLACK HOLES In Our Backyard." Astronomy (2012): 44-49. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.

2012. “Milky Way's 'Sleeping' Supermassive Black Hole Erupts with a Flare Up”
Retrieved from:
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/10/milky-ways-sleeping-supermassive-black-hole-erupts-with-a-flare-up-.html