Black Hole FAQ

[frasercain]

As part of my day job, I am possibly going to write a black hole FAQ. There already is one on the web, but I am looking to be more up-to-date, make it my style, cover other topics, etc.<br /><br />So (seriously here), what kind of frequently asked questions would you like to see covered in a FAQ? I have my own list, but I want to see what others have. Check out the other one first and see if it didn't answer your questions.<br /><br />Thanks!<br />

 

[Saiph]

lets see, big ones around here:<br /><br />Do things actually cross the event horizon? considering time dilation hits infinity there.<br /><br />If nothing escapes a BH, what are these jets comming from them?<br /><br />What happens if two BH's collide?<br /><br />How do we detect them?<br /><br />What's the best evidence for their existence?<br /><br />Which came first, galaxies or their central BH?<br /><br />can you orbit inside the event horizon?<br /><br />How can the singularity be infinite density?<br /><br />How does the charge and magnetic field of the stuff inside the EH, communicate to the outside?<br /><br />If the mass isn't there anymore (EH cuts off the material from the outside) how do we feel the gravity? This ones like the previous question.<br /><br />How does hawking radiation work? (I know of two ways for it to work)<br /><br />How does one explain the non-blackbody spectrum power distribution of a BH powered quasar? it's nearly a linear drop off on a logrithmic plot <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Don't worry about that last one. The energy-budget for quasars isn't fully understood last I checked, and it isn't a <i>frequently</i> asked question unless you work for my last advisor. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p align="center"><font color="#c0c0c0"><br /></font></p><p align="center"><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">----</font></em></font><font color="#666699">SaiphMOD@gmail.com </font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">-------------------</font></em></font></p><p><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">"This is my Timey Wimey Detector.  Goes "bing" when there's stuff.  It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually.  I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- </font></em></font><font size="1" color="#999999">The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[nexium]

Some of the answers change if we are asking about a black hole with a mass of a few tons or a trillion solar mass, so you might consider separate answers for large, small and medium for some of the questions. Neil