Trip to Space Center

On May 1st I traveled to the N.A.S.A. Space and rocket center in Huntsville, Alabama. While I was there I looked at the different exhibits on space ships and mission in the past. But the most interesting was the exhibit on stars and black holes. I asked questions to the scientist that worked there about them they gave me some great information. Iasked him questions on weather he thinks blackholes are effecting the path that we orbit on, he said that it is very possible. I also asked him his opinion on the fabric of the universe and he said that it is flat and that the planets push down creating a sagging effect. He also gave me a pamphlet, on how they spot the black holes. Then I got to go outside and ride the G-force, a ride there that spins you at fast speeds so that you get to feel the power of a slight G-force.

This trip to the space center was very helpful in the knowledge I gained in the subject. Mostly due to the fact that I was able to interact with my subject by getting to experience some what of the feeling you would get when entering a black hole; although the feeling I felt was minuscule compared to the real force of a black hole. Another aspect was that I was able to ask a scientist there some question although he said he was not an expert by any means on the topic he still answered the questions I needed. The over all trip was probably the most I have learned about the topic since we have started it.

Book Reveiw

In the book A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, he explains many different debatable topics such as: black hole and space time. The first topic he goes over is the topic of space time. He says that time and space are not to be put together because they are completely independent. He also states that time is not a constant like we think rather it is dependent on the perspective of the view watch the act take place. The topic of black holes is also explained by Hawkings through the way they are found since they are not visible but detected through radio waves. Also the effects of there gravitational pull and how it affects our galaxy for example, “the extra gravitational attraction of such a large number of black holes could explain why our galaxy rotates at the rate it does” (Hawking 98). So the gravitational pull of black holes guides the way for our galaxy.

I really enjoyed reading this book because it directly related to my topic. It required me to think about some things such as time. I had to read some chapters and pages twice to fully grasp what he was trying to say. The book has a high comprehension level and requires some prior knowledge in math, science, and simple physics concepts. The ideas behind some of Hawkings rational is abstract.

The pictures that were in the book help me so much due to the fact that I am a visual person. I enjoyed the stories he would tell about how he thought about the laws he made. They were very interesting. He would never give up on a concept that he thought he had the answer too. But all in all I really enjoyed this book and took a lot away from it.

Hawkings, Stephen. A Brief History of Time. 10th Anniversary. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1998. Print

In the article “Black Hole Census Comes Up Way Short”, by Robert Roy Britthe explains how scientist tried to find an exact number of black holes that exist in our galaxy. The challenge is that black holes do not give of light so you cannot see them that is the challenge they face. The way they can detect them is to notice the light swells that surround them, or they detect the x-rays that are emitted. But that is the problem with stationary black holes they emit no x-rays, also they do not swell light do to the fact that they have already eaten all the surrounding stars that could possibly emit light. But when you look at something a far distance away you see into the past stages not the present this is explained, “ When scientists look across the universe, they're also looking back in time, so these more distant galaxies are also seen when they were much younger, in some cases while they were infants or teens in the growing universe.” (Britt 1)

I thought that this article was a little hard to grasp. They could have helped to explain the idea of the long distances of the universe and how you see the past and not present. Also the way that blackholes emit x-rays, needed to be explained.

Britt, Robert . "Black Hole Census Comes Up Way Short ." Space.com 26 July 2006: 1. Web. 19 May 2010.

Wormholes

In the article “Are Wormholes Tunnels for Time Travel?” by Stefan Lovgren he explians that wormholes are mysterious holes in the universe they are similar to black holes except for the fact that they do not have a great gravitational pull . Which leaves the question that maybe they can be used as passages to another dimension or universe or maybe just a short cut? Stefan Lovgren explains a worm hole as,”… theoretical shortcuts through space and time connect[ing] two distant points in space, like a worm tunnel through an apple” (1). The idea behind it is that if you can find a wormhole you can travel through it to get to a destination before a ray of light would. But according to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity nothing can move faster than the speed of light, which means that when you enter a wormhole, if this is possible at all, you are not traveling faster than light you are just taking a shorter distance. They are said to stay open by a form of energy that has a very small density this energy is called Casimir energy. Richard Gott a Professor at Princeton says “...envisions the wormhole effect as being like that of a mirrored garden ball. When looking through the wormhole, however, one would not see a reflection of that same garden, but instead a garden on, say, Alpha Centauri, the star closest to our solar system.”(Lovgren 1). So the idea of traveling through a wormhole is very plausible but the weight of a wormhole limits them to only occur in outer space.



I thought this article was great in the way that it explained wormholes considering they are abstract, so it provided real examples such as the garden ball, to help grasp the idea. It also included scientific reasoning by comparing the hypothesis of worm holes to the ideas of quantum physics, which helps reason the chances of the idea being realistic. It also included quotes from very well respected physicist such as Richard Gott. They also included the ideas behind Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, that go against the ideas of the wormhole theory such as the density cannot be below zero.

Lovgren, Stefan. "Are Wormholes Tunnels for Time Travel?." National Geographic News 16 Sep. 2005: 1- 2. Web. 15 Apr 2010. .

Cosmic Strings

In this video Stephen Hawkins and Richard Gott explain how the effects of two comic stings could create a time machine. Cosmic strings are strings that are extremely dense pieces of energy left over from the big bang. The idea is that any piece of energy has the ability to bend space time. So in theory if you find two cosmic stings you can bend space to to the shape of a V. Say you have a sheet of paper, the paper is flat that represents regular space time, but say you folded it then the path from point a to point be has become much smaller that is the idea behind the warping of space time. So you can then travel what would be the shortest part of triangles legs. Therefore you would arrive faster than someone who travels of the flat space time, meaning you are in the future. The only down fall to this theory is the fact that after all this takes place a black hole would be created, causing you to fall into and endless hole.

I thought the clip was very interesting the theory of time travel through cosmic stings was a great idea. The way the clip presented the material was quite challenging to comprehend. The pictures where great along with the diagrams those really help to make up for the use of hard vocabulary and space terms. I had to watch it several times to completely comprehend the information. But overall the entire clip was very interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOi0xA9GvX8

Theory of Relativity

In the article Anushka Asthana and David Smith debate the idea of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. In the theory Einstein states that you are any object of mass will create the space time area to sag he calls it the fabric theory. Einstein states “...in the same way that a large ball placed on an elasticated cloth stretches the fabric and causes it to sag”. The idea is that time and space have to warp around a planet due to its density. This idea has been tested many times and it has never failed to stand correct.

The article helped to explain the idea of general relativity in a very comprehensive way. It was important for me to understand the theory due to the fact that it directly relates to the topic of a black hole. The article included a great summary at the end of the theory and the different parts this helped to read the summary then read the article its self that way you have a better understanding of the theory and the different parts.

Asthana, Anushka, and David Smith. "Einstein was right: space and time bend." Observer 5 April 2007 : n. pag. Web. 9 Apr 2010.

What is a Black Hole?

In the article"Exploring Black Holes", by Merimee Koekemoer he stats black holes are creations due to stars running out of fuel. Once a star runs out of fuel it collapses forming a hole in the universe with a mass so large that light cannot even escape the gravitational pull. Koekemoer explains the speeds needed to escape the pull of a black hole, “…any form of electromagnetic radiation, nor any particle, no matter how energetic cannot escape.”(3). The size of a black hole is not limited to any size every time that the black hole consumes something it gains size and mass. Although it will eventually run out of planets due to the fact that it can only consume the planets within it gradational pull. The picture to the left is a picture of a star going supernova. This is the time at which it runs out of fuel and and creates a large explosion, the next thing that usally follows is the star collapsing on itself causing a black hole. the picture to the right is a black hole itself.

This article really helped me to comprehend the creation of black holes and why they form. It also answered many questions that I had about the forming and the power that a black hole has. The fact that the holes sizes are not limited is a scary thought to think of, considering that there is a black hole in the Milky Way (our galaxy). The thought light being bent around an object is a thought that is very tricky to grasp but this article did a great job of explaining it.

Koekemoer, Merimee. "Exploring Black Holes." NASA 2009: 12-15. Print.

Parts of a Black Hole

Stuart J. Robbins describes the different effects of the black holes and also the different parts of the black holes. The singularity is the very center. Then moving out there is a space between the inner event of horizon and the singularity where space is said to be normal. Then there is the inner event of horizon where the gravitational pull is extreme. There then is the outer event of horizon this is the point of no return in which not even the light can escape the gravitational pull. Since you are not able to get close to black holes and they are hard to see due to no light they find all the information about them through theory and math. For example they use the Doppler Effect to get accurate weights of black holes. Stuart J. Robinson explains the effect of what would happen to a human if they where to enter a black hole, “…you would be pulled apart because your feet (assuming they went feet first) would be far greater than the force on your head, and they you would be pulled as one pulls dough into a rope.” White holes are what is said to be on the other side of the black hole, Robbins disproves this theory by saying that the masses coming out of the white hole would be too much mass in to small of a space causing them collapse creating another black hole.
The fact that we are able to study these things without ever being able to actually get close to one is amazing. You cannot see them due to the fact that there is no light emitted in one so, the way they study them and find the different layers or sections of them is through math. They can measure the density of one through the Doppler Effect by seeing how fast the masses on the inside are spinning. The horrible thought of ever being trapped in one of this is just an extreme though. Maybe someday the questions surrounding them will be answered.

Robbins, Stuart. "Black Holes." N.p., 11 Jan 2006. Web. 1 Apr 2010.
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