Spaghettification Research Project

Spaghettification Research Project PowerPoint

Article Link: https://www.phenomena.org/space/spaghettification/

The singularity inside of a black hole contains the single most powerful gravitational field in the universe, that we know of. Once an object passes through the point of no return, it will be stretched by the tidal forces into spaghetti like strands. If an astronaut were to travel into a black hole they would experience different strength forces of gravity depending on their orientation, this is referred to as the gravitational gradient.

Spaghettification Facts (Direct Quote):

-It occurs as a result of the gravitational gradient
-Spaghettification stretches objects vertically and compresses them horizontally
-A human undergoing spaghettification would likely die in less than a second
-The process has been observed on large astronomical objects
-It can occur before or after an object crosses a black hole’s event horizon, depending on the black hole’s size

Article Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole

Class:                                      Approx.. Mass:                                       Approx. Radius:

Supermassive                    10⁵–10¹⁰ M_Sun                                          0.001–400 AU

Intermediate-mass        10³ M_Sun                                                      10³ km ≈ R_Earth

Stellar                                   10 M_Sun                                                        30 km

Micro                                    up to M_Moon                                                up to 0.1 mm

Simulation of gravitational lensing:

Lecture Link:http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~ryden/ast162_6/notes26.html#:~:text=(1)%20Black%20holes%20can%20be,but%20cannot%20emerge%20from%20it.&text=A%20black%20hole%20can%20be,and%2For%20hot%20gas).

1) Detection by Gravitational Lensing:

One way for researchers to detect a black hole is by its effect on the luminous matter around it. A black holes gravity is so strong that light passing by it will appear to be warped. This is the method known as gravitational lensing.

2) Detecting a Black Hole in a Binary Star System:

A binary system of stars that emits a large amount of X-rays is a likely place you will be able to find a black hole. The cause of these X-rays is from gas that has been taken from its companion star spiraling into the event horizon. The gas is heated by the tidal forces and friction from rubbing together with other gases falling into the black hole. This gas emits X-rays as it spirals into the event horizon. The combination of these forces causes the gas surrounding the black hole to be very visible until it actually falls into the event horizon making it easier for observers to spot them in a binary star system.

Article Link: https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/black-holes#:~:text=Astronomers%20can%20detect%20them%20by,of%20super%2Ddense%20cosmic%20objects.&text=Historically%2C%20astronomers%20have%20long%20believed,mid%2Dsized%20black%20holes%20exist.

The idea of black holes has been around for a very long time and were predicted in Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Though scientists can’t observe black holes using x-rays, light, or electromagnetic radiation they can observe them by looking at their effect on the matter around them. For example, “If a black hole passes through a cloud of interstellar matter… it will draw matter inward in a process known as accretion.” While passing through this area the black hole will eat up any celestial bodies nearby and emit large amounts of gamma radiation. Scientists can observe their path of destruction to collect data.

A black holes creation begins with the death of a star at least three times the mass of the Sun collapsing in on itself in a huge super nova. One very interesting piece of information is that while the star is collapsing, “When the surface reaches the event horizon, time stands still, and the star can collapse no more – it is a frozen collapsing object.” Larger black holes are not created the same way. Instead they are formed by stellar collisions (i.e. a smaller black hole and a neutron star colliding to create a larger black hole). It was previously believed that no mid-sized black holes existed until further observations pointed to their existence and even their chain reactions of collisions leading to the creation of supper massive black holes like Sagittarius A*.

Article Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghettification#:~:text=In%20astrophysics%2C%20spaghettification%20

Spaghettification is defined as “…the vertical stretching and horizontal compression of objects into long thin shapes…” which is caused by extreme tidal force from a black hole. When an object ventures to close to a black  hole, the tidal forces have a greater pull on the material that is the closest to it, creating that spaghetti like stretch. This effect is illustrated below.  This is because the tidal forces apply a stronger gravitational force on the object that is the closest to the singularity. Because of this, if these objects were to fall into a small black hole they would be crushed before they reach the event horizon. However, this is not the same for a supermassive black hole. The singularity in a supermassive black hole lies much further behind the event horizon which would allow objects to pass through the it before being spaghettified. This has to do with where the tensile force exuded on an object is the greatest. The tensile force created by supermassive black hole is going to be the largest within the event horizon whereas the tensile force from a much smaller black hole is strongest outside of the event horizon causing anything being sucked in to be spaghettified before it reaches the ‘surface.’

Tensile force found through integration of the tidal force: F = μ l m/4r^3

μ-the standard gravitational parameter of the black hole

l- length of the object

m- the objects mass

r- the distance to the black hole

 

Article Link: https://www.space.com/black-hole-star-death-spaghettification

One night, when telescopes were turned to the sky they captured something truly rare; a flash of light emitted from a black hole tearing a star to shreds. This event happened 215 million light-years from Earth so we were extremely lucky to have caught it. Researchers from were able to study the event over a six month time period before the star was completely destroyed. These observations were conducted in “…ultraviolet, optical, X-ray and radio wavelengths.” They found the star being destroyed to be relatively the same size as our own sun and the black hole to be “…more than 1 million times that…” This event, named AT 2019qiz, gave researchers helpful data on how matter behaves in/near the extreme environment of a black hole.