Our Milky Way galaxy's central black hole has just came out of hibernation...

NathanE · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:33

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415111724.htm

Japanese, and European X-ray satellites, a team of Japanese astronomers has discovered that our galaxy’s central black hole let loose a powerful flare three centuries ago.

The finding helps resolve a long-standing mystery: why is the Milky Way’s black hole so quiescent? The black hole, known as Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A-star"), is a certified monster, containing about 4 million times the mass of our Sun. Yet the energy radiated from its surroundings is billions of times weaker than the radiation emitted from central black holes in other galaxies.

"We have wondered why the Milky Way’s black hole appears to be a slumbering giant," says team leader Tatsuya Inui of Kyoto University in Japan. "But now we realize that the black hole was far more active in the past. Perhaps it’s just resting after a major outburst."

How long will it take before it is blamed for global warming?

Slinwagh · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:36

NathanE said:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415111724.htm

How long will it take before it is blamed for global warming?

Depends on if you can tax it.

lolwtfbbq · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:38

NathanE said:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415111724.htm

How long will it take before it is blamed for global warming?

0.999999999999999999999 ms

Cosimo · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:41

Run for the hills, we are all doomed.

Schnippzle · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:43

Slinwagh said:
Depends on if you can tax it.

Is it 4WD?

Voltar · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:46

IS this a good or a bad thing? I'm a noob when it comes to this kind of thing :/

fini · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:46

Vinni3 said:
0.999999999999999999999 ms

0.9r ms = 1 ms

<runs for the hills>

Visage · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:48

NathanE said:
<snip>

Actually it came out of hibernation about 26,000 years ago.....shoddy reporting.

Glaucus · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:48

Voltar said:
IS this a good or a bad thing? I'm a noob when it comes to this kind of thing :/

Neither I would imagine. Not everything falls into a good or bad category.

Visage · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:49

Voltar said:
IS this a good or a bad thing? I'm a noob when it comes to this kind of thing :/

Neither, TBH, and even if it was a bad thing then there's nothing we could do....

knowledge123 · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:51

galaxys'

Galaxy's = Galaxy is == not grammatically correct.

You don't type '"Mark's car is blue" because that would be saying Mark is a blue car. You would say "Marks' car is blue"

lesson over

/grammar-nazi

OT: interesting news.

Anim · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:52

But it is the cause of global warming! its dragging us all to the centre of the galaxy where its obviously going to be hotter....

Visage · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:54

knowledge123 said:
galaxys'

Galaxy's = Galaxy is == not grammatically correct.

You don't type '"Mark's car is blue" because that would be saying Mark is a blue car. You would say "Marks' car is blue"

lesson over
/grammar-nazi

OT: interesting news.

Utterly wrong. D-

An apostrpohe indicates possesion. The galaxy has a black hole, so to refer to it you can say "the galaxy's black hole"

Squink · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:55

Visage said:
Utterly wrong. D-

Bah, beaten to it

Dj_Jestar · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:57

TJ: Anyone got any info on the event that's been dubbed something like "Galactic Winter" or something.. it's due in Dec 2012, and had a bit of "WE'RE GONNA ****ING DIE!!!1" hype to it. Ta

fini · 16 Apr 2008 at 14:58

knowledge123 said:
You don't type '"Mark's car is blue" because that would be saying Mark is a blue car. You would say "Marks' car is blue"

lesson over
/grammar-nazi

Wrong!

'Mark's car is blue' is correct because the car is owned by Mark. You only put the apostrophe after the 's' if the 's' is already in the singular of the word or you are dealing with plurals (e.g. "James' car" and "the chickens' home").

EDIT:Beaten by miles

Malt_Vinegar · 16 Apr 2008 at 15:00

Visage said:
Utterly wrong. D-

An apostrpohe indicates possesion. The galaxy has a black hole, so to refer to it you can say "the galaxy's black hole"

I am glad u said this, i was scratching my head for a minute then...

Squark · 16 Apr 2008 at 15:05

The fool tried to enter the world of the grammar nazi, back to school for him.

Apostrophes are for contractions and possession, but not for pluralisation.

hogfather · 16 Apr 2008 at 15:06

I was about to wade in there myself and sort it out, good work Visage!

Is that Visage's good work, or Visages' good work

(it's Visage's

)

knowledge123 · 16 Apr 2008 at 15:07

*lols*

Utterly wrong. D-

An apostrpohe indicates possesion. The galaxy has a black hole, so to refer to it you can say "the galaxy's black hole"

Wrong!

'Mark's car is blue' is correct because the car is owned by Mark. You only put the apostrophe after the 's' if the 's' is already in the singular of the word or you are dealing with plurals (e.g. "James' car" and "the chickens' home").

EDIT:Beaten by miles

Thanks, we can all learn a valuable lesson from this.

The fool tried to enter the world of the grammar nazi, back to school for him.

It's a harsh world