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The night sky glitters
with enumerable stars,
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but space has many objects
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still hidden from our view
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as if they were just
waiting to be discovered.
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Some four decades ago an astrophysicist
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argued that at the heart of every galaxy
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there exists a supermassive black hole.
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A galaxy can have hundreds
of billions of stars.
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Many are concentrated
in the galaxy's nucleus
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making that part called the "bulge"
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the brightest part.
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And in the very center
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an astounding phenomenon,
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a supermassive black hole.
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One as massive, in fact,
as several billion suns,
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a monster black hole.
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Surrounding gases are sucked in
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with powerful gravitational force
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even light cannot escape.
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Lynden-Bell's theory was that every galaxy
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has this kind of supermassive
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black hole at its center.
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This is the Institute of Astromony
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at the University of Cambridge.
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Donald Lynden-Bell argued
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for the existence of
supermassive black holes
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when he was 34 years old.
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He is still unraveling their mysteries.
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When he published his argument
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that supermassive black
holes exist in every galaxy
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he was met with a storm of criticism.
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I think most people felt that they knew
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what galaxies were like,
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and they didn't see any reason why
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there should be enormous masses
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in the middles of galaxies,
so it was an idea,
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but you know far out,
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and not very much considered as natural.
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However, subsequent observations
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by space based telescopes,
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and by giant telescopes on earth
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have confirmed that
supermassive black holes
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do indeed exist.
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Now it is conceded that
supermassive black holes
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have a deep connection not only
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to the formation of galaxies,
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but to the very structure of space itself.
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This program is dedicated to understanding
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these mysteries objects
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that seem to dominate space.
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Supermassive black holes.
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The black hole is a bizarre space object
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defined by the absence of everything
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except gravitational force.
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How do scientists wrap
their minds around it?
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It's complicated.
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Seriously massive objects
warp the fabric of space.
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The heavier the star, that
is the greater its mass,
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the greater the distortion.
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So light which would otherwise travel
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in a straight path gets bent.
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If a star of any given
mass shrinks sufficiently
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its density increases until
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its local distortion of space is infinite.
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That's a black hole.
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A border develops separating the black hole
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from the space around it.
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Once this border has been crossed
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going into the black hole
even light cannot escape.
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Border diameter is determined
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by the weight of the compressed mass.
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A hole with the same mass as earth
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would be merely two centimeters across
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something the mass of
the sun six kilometers.
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That's considered the
size of the black hole.
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Black holes are created
the instant stars die.
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Let's say a star
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20 or more times larger than our sun
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reaches the end of its life and explodes.
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The stars own gravity than causes
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its remaining core to implode infinitely
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becoming a purely gravitational force.
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When a black hole is born like this
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from the death of a star
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its diameter is 50 kilometers at most,
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but one can find black holes
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of truly monstrous proportions
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over 10 billion kilometers in diameter.
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Andrea Ghez is an expert
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on this invisible phenomenon
of the black hole.
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It was when she saw the
Apollo moon landing on TV
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that her interest in space was awakened.
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My biggest objective in
life when I was very young
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was to become a ballerina.
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I see things spinning in space now
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as opposed to myself.
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The path was unclear,
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and today I view doing astronomy,
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and studying the black hole
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as putting together one big puzzle.
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Donald Lynden-Bell predicted
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that a supermassive black hole
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lurks at the heart of every galaxy.
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Andrea Ghez tried to find such a black hole
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in our own Milky Way Galaxy.
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Actually, the first thing
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that we're trying to do
is watch how stars move.
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That's the key to finding
that there's a black hole.
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The way you do this is by
pointing your telescope
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at the center of the galaxy,
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and using a technique that allows you
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to see the stars around the black hole.
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Here's the black hole,
and what you want to do
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is you want to be able to see a star.
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You want to be able to see a star
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make a complete orbit around the center.
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Ghez followed the movements
of the stars for years
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plotting their trajectories.
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If they were, in fact,
orbiting some unseen object
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than that would be proof of a black hole.
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The center of the Milky Way, however,
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is 26,000 light years from earth.
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Ascertaining the movements of stars around
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a point so far off in
space is no easy matter.
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Mauna Kea, Hawaii,
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home to several giant telescopes.
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Ghez used one of the obervatories
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on this summit, the Keck Observatory.
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The Keck has two of the largest
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telescopes in the world
with primary mirrors
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that are 10 meters in diameter.
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Ghez's observations here began in 1995,
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but Ghez and her team
were not the only ones
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searching for a supermassive black hole
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in the center of our galaxy.
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A European team based
in the heart of Germany
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had also been hunting the same monster.
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The leader of these star trackers
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is Stefan Gillessen.
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I have a 10 meter telescope.
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We have an eight meter telescope,
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so our telescope is a bit smaller,
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however, we are on the southern hemisphere
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where the galactic center
is visible for more hours
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so we can observe from February to October.
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The European team
conducts its observations
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at the Paranal Observatory in Chile.
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The VLT array there comprises
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four 8.2 meter telescopes.
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But even with such advanced technology
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success is elusive.
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The problem is earth's atmosphere.
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Atmospheric fluctuations blur the stars.
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April 2002 the European team installs
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epic making new equipment.
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From the VLT at Paranal
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they shoot laser beams into the night sky
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to measure and adjust for
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those atmospheric fluctuations.
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Their special equipment succeeds
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in doing just that.
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The new method is called "adaptive optics."
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It brings the stars into focus.
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Corrected for atmospheric fluctuations
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the stars shine much more clearly.
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Ghez, who did not yet have adaptive optics
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was at a disadvantage.
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She minimized atmospheric fluctuations
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by restricting exposure
time in imaging the stars.
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Meticulously, she charted their movements.
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Success or failure depended on
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choosing the right stars to follow.
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At first both teams were following
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a start designated SO-1.
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But Ghez's attention was
drawn to another star.
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Another star which people were very
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excited about in the
earliest days was SO-1.
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It was the star that was
moving fastest, initially,
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but it was SO-2
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that as it got closer to the black hole
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has become the fastest moving star
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that we've known about.
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This graphic represents
Ghez's findings.
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Knowing that stars orbit
the center of the galaxy
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was not enough to prove
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the existence of a black hole.
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In January of 2002 another
star designated SO-2
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was observed to be behaving strangely.
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It was executing a blindingly
fast and tight orbit
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clocked at 5,000 kilometers per second
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as if being swung violently
around and around.
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These were incredibly exciting times
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because, of course, at every stage
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of this experiment people said:
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"You can't do it,"
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or "What you're seeing isn't"
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"what you should be seeing."
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We initially saw that
they were moving fast,
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and people said:
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"These stars aren't bound to the galaxy."
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"You're not gonna see them curve."
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Yet SO-2 was indeed
curving in a rapid orbit.
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This is an actual imaging sequence.
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Exhaustive analysis showed it to be
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a giant star with a mass
equivalent to 10 suns.
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The only thing that can make stars
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move that fast is a lot of mass.
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These stars are moving
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because there's a lot of gravity,
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and the only thing that
makes that much gravity
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in that small a space is a
supermassive black hole.
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With their adaptive optics
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the strange behavior of SO-2
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had not escaped the notice
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of the European team either.
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They succeeded in imaging SO-2
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at around the same time.
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Of course, that was the moment
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everybody was extremely excited about
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"Wow! that orbit is proving"
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"there must be a mass,"
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"and we can measure the mass."
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We can actually calculate the mass.
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It's an easy calculation.
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Any student can do it,
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and the result is extremely fascinating.
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This mass which we are
seeing in these images
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is four million times the mass of the sun.
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Finally, after 10 years of observations
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it was determined that a
supermassive black hole
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does, in fact, exist in
the center of our galaxy.
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And it is bigger than was imagined
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by many orders of magnitude.
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Black holes created when stars die
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are typically 50 kilometers
in diameter at most,
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but the one at the center
of our galaxy is gigantic.
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The diameter is estimated
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to be 24 million kilometers.
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That's like 17 of our
suns lined up in a row.
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Around this monster black hole rushes SO-2,
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a giant blue star at 5,000
kilometers per second,
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about 200 times the speed
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at which the earth orbits the sun.
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That is a speed made possible only by
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the immense gravitational
pull of a black hole.
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In the center of our own galaxy,
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but far from earth unfolds
a dance of the stars.
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It was this dancing of the stars
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that proved the existence
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of a supermassive black hole.
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It was an idea, but you know, far out,
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and not very much considered this natural.
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It remained that way for about 15 years.
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Lynden-Bell had predicted that
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a supermassive black hole exists
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at the center of every galaxy.
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Apart from observing the
orbits of the stars
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there's another way to prove
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the existence of such a black hole.
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That's to observe the moment when
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a black hole swallows up stars or gases.
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As gases are sucked into a black hole
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they first flatten into a disk.
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Friction causes them to super heat,
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and to emit intense radio waves.
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If these radio waves can be detected
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that can indicate the
presence of a black hole.
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The largest telescope in the world
269
00:20:14,499 --> 00:20:16,532
for detecting extremely high frequency
270
00:20:16,533 --> 00:20:18,567
millimeter band radio waves
271
00:20:18,568 --> 00:20:21,203
is the 45 meter radio telescope
272
00:20:21,204 --> 00:20:25,061
at the National Astronomical
Observatory of Japan.
273
00:20:29,380 --> 00:20:32,014
It was, in fact, a Japanese scientist
274
00:20:32,015 --> 00:20:34,583
who first proved Lynden-Bell's theory that
275
00:20:34,584 --> 00:20:36,253
a supermassive black hole
276
00:20:36,254 --> 00:20:38,538
lies hidden in every galaxy.
277
00:20:44,361 --> 00:20:46,664
It happened in 1990,
278
00:20:46,665 --> 00:20:49,683
21 years after Lynden-Bell's prediction.
279
00:20:52,970 --> 00:20:54,904
Naomasa Nakai was working at
280
00:20:54,905 --> 00:20:57,507
the Nobeyama Radio Observatory
281
00:20:57,508 --> 00:21:00,361
studying gases at the centers of galaxies.
282
00:21:07,317 --> 00:21:08,951
He was interested in a galaxy
283
00:21:08,952 --> 00:21:11,538
adjacent to the Big Dipper.
284
00:21:15,226 --> 00:21:18,595
Galaxy M106, a spiral galaxy
285
00:21:18,596 --> 00:21:21,282
21 million light years from earth.
286
00:21:22,667 --> 00:21:24,133
Radio waves had been reported
287
00:21:24,134 --> 00:21:28,225
to be issuing regularly
from the nucleus of M106.
288
00:21:50,661 --> 00:21:52,395
In addition to a 45 meter
289
00:21:52,396 --> 00:21:54,730
diameter parabolic dish antenna
290
00:21:54,731 --> 00:21:56,967
Nobeyama Radio Observatory
291
00:21:56,968 --> 00:21:59,786
has some world class instrumentation.
292
00:22:03,007 --> 00:22:04,440
Eight spectrometers capable
293
00:22:04,441 --> 00:22:07,528
of minute observation of radio waves.
294
00:22:13,183 --> 00:22:15,618
A single spectrometer is
sufficient to observe
295
00:22:15,619 --> 00:22:18,472
radio waves from the nucleus of a galaxy.
296
00:22:24,962 --> 00:22:28,030
But to be thorough Nakai
used two spectrometers
297
00:22:28,031 --> 00:22:30,234
for the very center of the galaxy,
298
00:22:30,235 --> 00:22:33,087
and flanked them with
the six remaining ones.
299
00:22:34,739 --> 00:22:37,607
That decision to use all eight instruments
300
00:22:37,608 --> 00:22:40,560
led to the discovery of the century.
301
00:22:45,116 --> 00:22:46,549
Nakai had simply wanted to put
302
00:22:46,550 --> 00:22:49,118
all his spectrometers to some use,
303
00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:51,572
but the results astonished him.
304
00:22:57,528 --> 00:22:59,162
There were surprising spikes
305
00:22:59,163 --> 00:23:01,832
on both ends of the combined graphs.
306
00:23:01,833 --> 00:23:03,633
Nakai was especially struck
307
00:23:03,634 --> 00:23:05,869
by the ones on the left.
308
00:23:05,870 --> 00:23:07,237
This indicated something moving
309
00:23:07,238 --> 00:23:10,461
at high velocities never before observed.
310
00:23:33,096 --> 00:23:34,931
More detailed observations
311
00:23:34,932 --> 00:23:37,618
were made using a high
resolution telescope.
312
00:23:38,636 --> 00:23:40,470
They found something remarkable
313
00:23:40,471 --> 00:23:42,322
at the core of the galaxy.
314
00:23:45,442 --> 00:23:47,528
A spinning disk.
315
00:23:50,314 --> 00:23:51,881
This was a structure very like
316
00:23:51,882 --> 00:23:53,617
the disk formed by gases
317
00:23:53,618 --> 00:23:55,903
being sucked into a black hole.
318
00:23:59,858 --> 00:24:00,923
The spikes recorded by
319
00:24:00,924 --> 00:24:03,126
the eight Nobeyama spectrometers
320
00:24:03,127 --> 00:24:05,044
were from this disk.
321
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,335
The disk was spinning furiously.
322
00:24:12,336 --> 00:24:15,522
3.6 million kilometers an hour.
323
00:24:16,208 --> 00:24:17,845
Detailed analysis revealed that
324
00:24:17,846 --> 00:24:19,409
the mass at its center
325
00:24:19,410 --> 00:24:22,945
was equivalent to 39 million of our suns.
326
00:24:22,946 --> 00:24:26,899
It was, indeed, a monster black hole.
327
00:24:50,106 --> 00:24:51,774
When his discovery was published
328
00:24:51,775 --> 00:24:55,329
in 1995 Nakai received a letter.
329
00:25:00,851 --> 00:25:02,318
The letter read:
330
00:25:02,319 --> 00:25:05,554
"I have been waiting 26
years for such proof,"
331
00:25:05,555 --> 00:25:07,290
"and congratulate you"
332
00:25:07,291 --> 00:25:09,309
"on your great discovery."
333
00:25:14,764 --> 00:25:17,017
The letter came from England.
334
00:25:20,139 --> 00:25:24,172
The sender, none other
than Donald Lynden-Bell,
335
00:25:24,173 --> 00:25:25,975
who had predicted the existence
336
00:25:25,976 --> 00:25:28,194
of supermassive black holes.
337
00:25:30,614 --> 00:25:33,515
I was very happy because I didn't feel that
338
00:25:33,516 --> 00:25:34,952
I absolutely knew.
339
00:25:34,953 --> 00:25:36,919
I thought it was likely,
340
00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:38,621
and gradually I thought it was
341
00:25:38,622 --> 00:25:40,273
more and more likely.
342
00:25:44,227 --> 00:25:48,164
A black hole equivalent to
39 million solar masses
343
00:25:48,165 --> 00:25:51,000
was sucking in huge volumes of gas
344
00:25:51,001 --> 00:25:53,655
with its tremendous gravitational force.
345
00:25:58,041 --> 00:25:59,574
The dark object in the center
346
00:25:59,575 --> 00:26:02,645
of this artist's conception
is a black hole.
347
00:26:02,646 --> 00:26:05,247
Its diameter is awesome
348
00:26:05,248 --> 00:26:09,035
as if 160 of our suns
were lined up in a row.
349
00:26:13,789 --> 00:26:15,091
It is now thought that almost
350
00:26:15,092 --> 00:26:17,603
all galaxies have these supermassive
351
00:26:17,604 --> 00:26:19,780
black holes at their center.
352
00:26:31,841 --> 00:26:34,209
The most advanced observational instruments
353
00:26:34,210 --> 00:26:37,097
are detecting ever larger black holes.
354
00:26:44,254 --> 00:26:46,722
Situated outside earth's atmosphere
355
00:26:46,723 --> 00:26:48,156
the Hubble Space Telescope
356
00:26:48,157 --> 00:26:50,943
can see space objects with great clarity.
357
00:26:55,299 --> 00:26:58,802
Hubble took aim at NGC 7052,
358
00:26:58,803 --> 00:27:02,422
a galaxy located 37
million light years away.
359
00:27:08,911 --> 00:27:12,181
The image it captured
was that of a huge disk
360
00:27:12,182 --> 00:27:15,052
comprised of gases and stars.
361
00:27:15,053 --> 00:27:16,987
In its center there ought to be
362
00:27:16,988 --> 00:27:19,372
a supermassive black hole.
363
00:27:24,227 --> 00:27:25,762
When we got this image
364
00:27:25,763 --> 00:27:27,463
I was just super excited, I mean,
365
00:27:27,464 --> 00:27:29,933
because it was such beautiful rich detail
366
00:27:29,934 --> 00:27:31,834
that I really knew right when I saw this
367
00:27:31,835 --> 00:27:32,868
that we were gonna be able
368
00:27:32,869 --> 00:27:34,570
to get excellent spectra,
369
00:27:34,571 --> 00:27:36,205
and really be able to determine
370
00:27:36,206 --> 00:27:37,974
whether this galaxy has a black hole,
371
00:27:37,975 --> 00:27:41,324
and how massive it is, so
I was very, very excited.
372
00:27:43,514 --> 00:27:45,214
The galaxy was, indeed,
373
00:27:45,215 --> 00:27:47,633
harboring a supermassive black hole.
374
00:27:52,255 --> 00:27:53,655
A black hole equivalent to
375
00:27:53,656 --> 00:27:56,660
300 million solar masses.
376
00:27:56,661 --> 00:27:58,861
That's more than 70 times larger
377
00:27:58,862 --> 00:28:00,262
than the one at the center
378
00:28:00,263 --> 00:28:02,633
of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
379
00:28:02,634 --> 00:28:04,734
A black hole with a diameter of
380
00:28:04,735 --> 00:28:08,387
1,200 of our suns lined up in a row.
381
00:28:11,074 --> 00:28:14,043
Hubble has spotted an even larger one.
382
00:28:14,044 --> 00:28:16,362
An ultra massive black hole.
383
00:28:20,050 --> 00:28:25,105
This one is in M87, 59
million light years away.
384
00:28:27,591 --> 00:28:29,558
Scientists had long been puzzled by
385
00:28:29,559 --> 00:28:32,111
a band of white light there.
386
00:28:37,434 --> 00:28:38,533
When Hubble was trained on
387
00:28:38,534 --> 00:28:41,136
the galaxy's core the band of white light
388
00:28:41,137 --> 00:28:44,323
was revealed to be a gigantic jet of gases.
389
00:28:49,346 --> 00:28:51,314
As the gases are sucked violently
390
00:28:51,315 --> 00:28:54,616
into the black hole a portion
of them are rejected
391
00:28:54,617 --> 00:28:56,736
in the form of this jet.
392
00:29:00,691 --> 00:29:02,125
The mass of the black hole
393
00:29:02,126 --> 00:29:04,427
at the base of this jet has been calculated
394
00:29:04,428 --> 00:29:07,615
to be 6.4 billion solar masses.
395
00:29:15,639 --> 00:29:18,140
That's 10 million times greater than
396
00:29:18,141 --> 00:29:19,743
the supermassive black hole
397
00:29:19,744 --> 00:29:22,811
at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy.
398
00:29:22,812 --> 00:29:25,414
In size its diameter is equal to
399
00:29:25,415 --> 00:29:29,169
25,000 of our suns lined up in a row.
400
00:29:34,625 --> 00:29:37,227
Then, in 2011 the largest black hole
401
00:29:37,228 --> 00:29:39,594
in history was discovered.
402
00:29:39,595 --> 00:29:43,634
In the galactic nucleus of NGC 4889
403
00:29:43,635 --> 00:29:45,701
there's an unimaginably monstrous
404
00:29:45,702 --> 00:29:48,170
black hole with a mass equivalent
405
00:29:48,171 --> 00:29:52,092
to 9.7 billion times that of our sun.
406
00:30:02,319 --> 00:30:03,785
What scientists are most eager
407
00:30:03,786 --> 00:30:06,289
to elucidate now is the process by which
408
00:30:06,290 --> 00:30:09,241
these black holes become so large
409
00:30:10,246 --> 00:30:12,594
they may start with the death of a star,
410
00:30:12,595 --> 00:30:14,464
but how do they then grow to
411
00:30:14,465 --> 00:30:17,185
billions of times their original size?
412
00:30:32,115 --> 00:30:35,535
Trinity College at the
University of Cambridge.
413
00:30:46,363 --> 00:30:48,298
Isaac Newton, who formulated
414
00:30:48,299 --> 00:30:50,566
the universal law of gravitation
415
00:30:50,567 --> 00:30:52,520
conducted research here.
416
00:31:03,113 --> 00:31:04,814
Martin Rees has served as
417
00:31:04,815 --> 00:31:07,116
master of Trinity College.
418
00:31:07,117 --> 00:31:08,483
Rees has conducted research
419
00:31:08,484 --> 00:31:10,351
on supermassive black holes
420
00:31:10,352 --> 00:31:12,538
together with Lynden-Bell.
421
00:31:23,233 --> 00:31:25,167
The impetus for his research was
422
00:31:25,168 --> 00:31:26,768
the discovery of galaxies
423
00:31:26,769 --> 00:31:28,971
whose high energy cores were emitting
424
00:31:28,972 --> 00:31:31,258
powerful radio waves.
425
00:31:33,777 --> 00:31:37,247
Well, there were various
alternative theories
426
00:31:37,248 --> 00:31:39,347
about what might be happening
427
00:31:39,348 --> 00:31:41,050
in the centers of the galaxies
428
00:31:41,051 --> 00:31:43,519
which are putting out a concentrated
429
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,106
high source of power.
430
00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:52,695
These ideas included a very
dense cluster of stars.
431
00:31:52,696 --> 00:31:54,831
A very massive star,
432
00:31:54,832 --> 00:31:58,051
a binary, supermassive object, et cetera.
433
00:31:58,936 --> 00:32:02,705
I realized that if you followed forward
434
00:32:02,706 --> 00:32:06,375
the likely evolution of
any of these objects
435
00:32:06,376 --> 00:32:09,311
they would all have no alternative
436
00:32:09,312 --> 00:32:11,830
to becoming a big black hole.
437
00:32:17,688 --> 00:32:19,089
So any object emitting
438
00:32:19,090 --> 00:32:21,258
sufficiently high amounts of energy
439
00:32:21,259 --> 00:32:24,677
will inevitably become a
supermassive black hole.
440
00:32:31,134 --> 00:32:34,421
How then are supermassive black holes born?
441
00:32:35,171 --> 00:32:37,139
The "Rees Diagram" as it was called
442
00:32:37,140 --> 00:32:39,360
chartered the possible routes.
443
00:32:49,285 --> 00:32:50,886
In the 30 years since
444
00:32:50,887 --> 00:32:53,056
the Rees Diagram was published
445
00:32:53,057 --> 00:32:55,025
there has been a succession of disoveries
446
00:32:55,026 --> 00:32:57,358
of supermassive black holes.
447
00:32:57,359 --> 00:32:59,794
At the same time the study of their birth
448
00:32:59,795 --> 00:33:01,881
has also been progressing.
449
00:33:07,569 --> 00:33:09,606
One scenario suggested by Rees
450
00:33:09,607 --> 00:33:11,606
was the consolidation of several
451
00:33:11,607 --> 00:33:13,693
smaller black holes.
452
00:33:14,777 --> 00:33:17,379
At the end of their lives stars explode
453
00:33:17,380 --> 00:33:20,648
forming relatively small black holes.
454
00:33:20,649 --> 00:33:24,287
Hundreds of millions of
them may cluster together
455
00:33:24,288 --> 00:33:27,206
merging into one supermassive black hole.
456
00:33:35,366 --> 00:33:37,333
This is NASA's space-based
457
00:33:37,334 --> 00:33:39,619
Chandra X-ray Observatory.
458
00:33:41,004 --> 00:33:42,705
Chandra has been examining a region
459
00:33:42,706 --> 00:33:44,605
where black hole consolidation
460
00:33:44,606 --> 00:33:46,659
is thought to be taking place.
461
00:33:52,784 --> 00:33:55,984
Galaxy NGC 6240 is located
462
00:33:55,985 --> 00:33:59,087
400 million light years from earth.
463
00:33:59,088 --> 00:34:02,207
Actually, two galaxies are colliding there.
464
00:34:06,629 --> 00:34:09,465
As Chandra examines their galactic cores
465
00:34:09,466 --> 00:34:12,151
two bluish white spots appear.
466
00:34:16,238 --> 00:34:18,773
They are both massive black holes,
467
00:34:18,774 --> 00:34:21,527
one at the center of each galaxy.
468
00:34:23,746 --> 00:34:26,716
This blue region here is
a blowup of the center,
469
00:34:26,717 --> 00:34:28,919
and you can see there are
two little sources there.
470
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,453
One brighter, and one a bit fainter,
471
00:34:31,454 --> 00:34:33,655
but each of those when
we look at the spectrum
472
00:34:33,656 --> 00:34:35,558
shows a very characteristic sign
473
00:34:35,559 --> 00:34:36,959
that this is just emission from
474
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,929
a supermassive black hole in each case
475
00:34:39,930 --> 00:34:41,931
which has never been seen before
476
00:34:41,932 --> 00:34:43,801
until we had the beautiful Chandra image,
477
00:34:43,802 --> 00:34:45,952
and could separate the two.
478
00:34:48,972 --> 00:34:52,975
Two black holes in close
proximity to each other,
479
00:34:52,976 --> 00:34:55,294
but they cannot soon merge.
480
00:35:05,921 --> 00:35:07,956
Rather like the earth and the moon
481
00:35:07,957 --> 00:35:09,691
in their perpetual dance
482
00:35:09,692 --> 00:35:12,194
the two black holes orbit about each other
483
00:35:12,195 --> 00:35:14,550
without colliding.
484
00:35:23,839 --> 00:35:25,708
So what about Rees's concept of
485
00:35:25,709 --> 00:35:27,576
black holes merging to form
486
00:35:27,577 --> 00:35:29,862
a supermassive black hole?
487
00:35:34,751 --> 00:35:38,087
Masayuki Uemura uses a super computer
488
00:35:38,088 --> 00:35:41,241
to create simulations
of black hole mergers.
489
00:35:47,765 --> 00:35:49,697
Here, he simulates the behaviors
490
00:35:49,698 --> 00:35:52,651
of 10 black holes of equivalent mass.
491
00:35:56,473 --> 00:35:58,008
The first consolidation happens
492
00:35:58,009 --> 00:36:00,108
far sooner than expected.
493
00:36:00,109 --> 00:36:02,528
It takes only 50 million years.
494
00:36:06,017 --> 00:36:08,117
The process repeats.
495
00:36:08,118 --> 00:36:10,418
Within about 500 million years
496
00:36:10,419 --> 00:36:13,372
five black holes have merged into one.
497
00:36:41,953 --> 00:36:45,120
Let's look at our actual universe.
498
00:36:45,121 --> 00:36:46,788
There are galactic collisions,
499
00:36:46,789 --> 00:36:49,141
and mergers all over the place.
500
00:37:01,370 --> 00:37:03,171
And when galaxies merge
501
00:37:03,172 --> 00:37:06,392
the thinking is that their
black holes merge too.
502
00:37:17,254 --> 00:37:19,155
Wherever galaxies cluster
503
00:37:19,156 --> 00:37:22,074
there's bound to be a
cluster of black holes.
504
00:37:25,096 --> 00:37:27,496
That means a process of consolidation
505
00:37:27,497 --> 00:37:29,130
of black holes.
506
00:37:29,131 --> 00:37:31,233
This conforms to actual observations
507
00:37:31,234 --> 00:37:33,252
of our universe.
508
00:37:43,146 --> 00:37:45,248
A second Rees Diagram scenario
509
00:37:45,249 --> 00:37:48,284
has a seed black hole becoming supermassive
510
00:37:48,285 --> 00:37:50,902
by swallowing up gases and stars.
511
00:37:57,193 --> 00:37:58,627
In that scenario
512
00:37:58,628 --> 00:38:00,596
the monster is born by gulping down
513
00:38:00,597 --> 00:38:03,531
an unbelievable quantity of gases
514
00:38:03,532 --> 00:38:06,888
equivalent to hundreds
of millions of our sun.
515
00:38:14,210 --> 00:38:16,744
The gases are sucked in with so much force
516
00:38:16,745 --> 00:38:19,732
that the friction produces incredible heat.
517
00:38:25,288 --> 00:38:28,324
That violent process emits intense light,
518
00:38:28,325 --> 00:38:32,678
and X-radiation, and blows
away surrounding gases.
519
00:38:35,098 --> 00:38:36,364
The result is that there are
520
00:38:36,365 --> 00:38:38,500
no more gases to feed on,
521
00:38:38,501 --> 00:38:41,186
and the black hole seizes to grow,
522
00:38:43,772 --> 00:38:47,042
but how is it that such a
huge quantity of gases
523
00:38:47,043 --> 00:38:49,629
could be sucked in in the first place?
524
00:38:53,718 --> 00:38:56,118
Gases that are being sucked in
525
00:38:56,119 --> 00:38:58,720
blowing away other gases.
526
00:38:58,721 --> 00:39:01,823
Ken Ohsuga studies this contradiction.
527
00:39:01,824 --> 00:39:03,992
He has found a particular mechanism
528
00:39:03,993 --> 00:39:06,928
within black holes by
which they can continue
529
00:39:06,929 --> 00:39:09,916
to draw in vast amounts of gases.
530
00:39:14,503 --> 00:39:16,773
He's prepared a simulation of one scenario
531
00:39:16,774 --> 00:39:21,260
for how supermassive black
holes may be created.
532
00:39:22,578 --> 00:39:24,812
As a black hole sucks in gases
533
00:39:24,813 --> 00:39:27,581
it generates magnetic field lines which
534
00:39:27,582 --> 00:39:31,119
penetrate the surrounding
gas disk like hoops.
535
00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:33,456
Thus embedded they are then distorted
536
00:39:33,457 --> 00:39:35,742
by the swirl of the disk.
537
00:39:39,163 --> 00:39:41,897
As the disk swirls the magnetic field lines
538
00:39:41,898 --> 00:39:44,265
are caught in a spiral vortex
539
00:39:44,266 --> 00:39:46,885
twisted and coiled like a spring.
540
00:39:49,839 --> 00:39:53,809
This is a plasma jet a
portion of the disk's gases
541
00:39:53,810 --> 00:39:56,211
charged with energy such as light
542
00:39:56,212 --> 00:39:58,380
shoots out in opposite directions
543
00:39:58,381 --> 00:40:00,700
perpendicular to the disk.
544
00:40:01,918 --> 00:40:05,219
Any remaining gases are
sucked into the black hole
545
00:40:05,220 --> 00:40:07,506
which grows supermassive.
546
00:40:41,024 --> 00:40:42,389
Hubble has captured this
547
00:40:42,390 --> 00:40:44,760
actual image of an intense jet
548
00:40:44,761 --> 00:40:47,547
erupting from the center of a galaxy.
549
00:40:58,507 --> 00:41:00,208
The gas guzzling scenario
550
00:41:00,209 --> 00:41:02,277
for supermassive black hole creation
551
00:41:02,278 --> 00:41:04,812
as outlined in the Rees Diagram
552
00:41:04,813 --> 00:41:07,171
thus seems persuasive.
553
00:41:20,062 --> 00:41:22,097
Martin Rees developed several theories
554
00:41:22,098 --> 00:41:25,066
of supermassive black hole formation.
555
00:41:25,067 --> 00:41:27,970
One was by the continuing
consumption of gases.
556
00:41:27,971 --> 00:41:29,939
Another was by the consolidation
557
00:41:29,940 --> 00:41:32,207
of smaller black holes,
558
00:41:32,208 --> 00:41:34,476
but the Rees Diagram indicated
559
00:41:34,477 --> 00:41:37,163
a third possibility as well.
560
00:41:41,118 --> 00:41:42,817
Under this third scenario
561
00:41:42,818 --> 00:41:44,986
just after the creation of the universe
562
00:41:44,987 --> 00:41:47,388
large clouds of gas condensed into
563
00:41:47,389 --> 00:41:49,757
supermassive black holes directly
564
00:41:49,758 --> 00:41:52,479
without first becoming stars at all.
565
00:41:57,833 --> 00:42:00,501
Recently, evidence for this third scenario
566
00:42:00,502 --> 00:42:02,755
has also come to light.
567
00:42:07,710 --> 00:42:09,577
By combining information from
568
00:42:09,578 --> 00:42:12,447
the Chandra X-ray and
Hubble Space telescopes
569
00:42:12,448 --> 00:42:14,849
Priyamvada Natarajan hunts for
570
00:42:14,850 --> 00:42:17,051
supermassive black holes created
571
00:42:17,052 --> 00:42:19,506
at the inception of the universe.
572
00:42:25,628 --> 00:42:29,365
These far off galaxies were
photographed by Hubble.
573
00:42:29,366 --> 00:42:31,465
Among those circled on the screen
574
00:42:31,466 --> 00:42:34,586
are some that are 12
billion light years away.
575
00:42:35,505 --> 00:42:37,238
They are small galaxies
576
00:42:37,239 --> 00:42:40,443
born immediately after the universe itself.
577
00:42:40,444 --> 00:42:43,196
Some 200 of them have been identified.
578
00:42:50,619 --> 00:42:53,372
Here's one as perceived by Chandra.
579
00:42:58,594 --> 00:43:02,782
And it already has a
supermassive black hole in it.
580
00:43:07,137 --> 00:43:09,137
Natarajan was surprised to discover
581
00:43:09,138 --> 00:43:11,373
that almost all 200 of them
582
00:43:11,374 --> 00:43:13,992
had supermassive black holes in them.
583
00:43:16,111 --> 00:43:18,447
If so many supermassive black holes
584
00:43:18,448 --> 00:43:20,382
were already present immediately after
585
00:43:20,383 --> 00:43:22,085
the creation of the universe
586
00:43:22,086 --> 00:43:24,186
then that lends powerful support
587
00:43:24,187 --> 00:43:27,339
to the third scenario in the Rees Diagram.
588
00:43:31,260 --> 00:43:34,095
So just as we think a gas cloud
589
00:43:34,096 --> 00:43:35,864
that is collapsing could make
590
00:43:35,865 --> 00:43:39,301
the first star reasonably easily
591
00:43:39,302 --> 00:43:42,170
the conditions that you need for making
592
00:43:42,171 --> 00:43:45,807
a black hole seed directly
without forming a star
593
00:43:45,808 --> 00:43:47,475
instead of forming a star
594
00:43:47,476 --> 00:43:50,061
also exist in the early universe.
595
00:43:51,947 --> 00:43:53,616
Efforts are also underway
596
00:43:53,617 --> 00:43:55,417
to confirm the third Rees Diagram
597
00:43:55,418 --> 00:43:57,870
scenario computationally.
598
00:43:59,922 --> 00:44:01,622
I think that it is the first time
599
00:44:01,623 --> 00:44:03,057
that there is a lot of showing
600
00:44:03,058 --> 00:44:04,726
that it is possible to produce
601
00:44:04,727 --> 00:44:08,162
a precursor of a big black hole
602
00:44:08,163 --> 00:44:11,333
in the form of a supermassive cloud.
603
00:44:11,334 --> 00:44:13,835
This is a giant gas cloud.
604
00:44:13,836 --> 00:44:16,220
100 light years in diameter.
605
00:44:18,107 --> 00:44:21,777
70,000 years after it
formed into a gas cloud
606
00:44:21,778 --> 00:44:23,678
its gasses were compressed into
607
00:44:23,679 --> 00:44:25,964
a disk one light year across.
608
00:44:27,049 --> 00:44:29,251
The gas disk was equivalent in mass
609
00:44:29,252 --> 00:44:32,070
to 100,000 of our suns.
610
00:44:32,988 --> 00:44:34,821
It then condensed further
611
00:44:34,822 --> 00:44:36,725
compressed by its own weight
612
00:44:36,726 --> 00:44:39,746
giving rise to a supermassive black hole.
613
00:44:43,766 --> 00:44:46,401
So the third scenario in the Rees Diagram
614
00:44:46,402 --> 00:44:49,704
going directly from gas cloud to black hole
615
00:44:49,705 --> 00:44:52,057
is a real possibility.
616
00:44:55,546 --> 00:44:57,313
Studies of the origins of these
617
00:44:57,314 --> 00:45:00,232
supermassive black holes are ongoing.
618
00:45:06,522 --> 00:45:08,422
The latest research reveals that
619
00:45:08,423 --> 00:45:12,029
the supermassive black holes
do not simply grow fat
620
00:45:12,030 --> 00:45:14,246
consuming everything nearby.
621
00:45:20,170 --> 00:45:23,205
Surprisingly, they exert
a huge constructive
622
00:45:23,206 --> 00:45:25,692
effect on the space around them.
623
00:45:42,090 --> 00:45:43,691
What these remarkable monsters
624
00:45:43,692 --> 00:45:46,679
call home is a galaxy's core.
625
00:45:49,231 --> 00:45:51,165
More specifically it's inside
626
00:45:51,166 --> 00:45:54,736
the concentration of stars
called the "bulge."
627
00:45:54,737 --> 00:45:56,571
The shape and size of the bulge
628
00:45:56,572 --> 00:45:58,591
varies with each galaxy.
629
00:46:12,255 --> 00:46:14,256
John Kormendy has investigated
630
00:46:14,257 --> 00:46:16,991
the relationship between
the mass of a bulge,
631
00:46:16,992 --> 00:46:19,811
and of its supermassive black hole.
632
00:46:29,104 --> 00:46:32,773
The first galaxy he observed was Andromeda.
633
00:46:32,774 --> 00:46:34,876
The supermassive black hole here
634
00:46:34,877 --> 00:46:38,480
is equivalent to 150 million solar masses.
635
00:46:38,481 --> 00:46:40,182
The bulge is approximately
636
00:46:40,183 --> 00:46:42,701
1,000 times greater in mass.
637
00:46:48,657 --> 00:46:51,827
Next, he looked at the Sombrero Galaxy.
638
00:46:51,828 --> 00:46:55,514
The black hole here is one
billion solar masses.
639
00:46:56,400 --> 00:46:58,365
The mass of the bulge is approximately
640
00:46:58,366 --> 00:47:00,619
1,000 times that.
641
00:47:05,374 --> 00:47:07,508
Plotted on a graph coordinating the masses
642
00:47:07,509 --> 00:47:09,978
of the bulges with those of the black holes
643
00:47:09,979 --> 00:47:13,331
the galaxies form a nearly straight line.
644
00:47:16,151 --> 00:47:18,053
In most galaxies the black hole
645
00:47:18,054 --> 00:47:22,240
to bulge ratio of masses is one to 1,000.
646
00:47:29,832 --> 00:47:31,499
This strong relationship between
647
00:47:31,500 --> 00:47:33,901
the mass of supermassive black holes,
648
00:47:33,902 --> 00:47:35,638
and their galaxies bulges
649
00:47:35,639 --> 00:47:37,856
surprised many scientists.
650
00:47:45,747 --> 00:47:47,549
We know that when gas densities
651
00:47:47,550 --> 00:47:50,585
get very big you get a burst of new stars
652
00:47:50,586 --> 00:47:53,053
being formed, and so at the same time
653
00:47:53,054 --> 00:47:56,780
when this burst of stars
is making the bulge
654
00:47:56,781 --> 00:47:59,593
the rest of the gas is being
fed to the black hole,
655
00:47:59,594 --> 00:48:01,662
and making the black hole bigger.
656
00:48:01,663 --> 00:48:03,298
So you get lots of new stars,
657
00:48:03,299 --> 00:48:05,334
and you get a higher mass black hole,
658
00:48:05,335 --> 00:48:07,353
and the two correlate.
659
00:48:10,171 --> 00:48:14,608
A galaxy comprises hundreds
of billions of stars.
660
00:48:14,609 --> 00:48:17,246
It turns out that at the galactic cores
661
00:48:17,247 --> 00:48:19,315
the black holes and the bulges
662
00:48:19,316 --> 00:48:21,600
have a deep interrelationship.
663
00:48:33,329 --> 00:48:35,463
A giant bulge will correlate
664
00:48:35,464 --> 00:48:37,765
with a giant black hole.
665
00:48:37,766 --> 00:48:40,655
A small bulge with a small black hole.
666
00:48:44,340 --> 00:48:46,641
This strange law of outerspace
667
00:48:46,642 --> 00:48:49,444
may mean that galaxies and black holes
668
00:48:49,445 --> 00:48:51,797
evolve together.
669
00:49:05,527 --> 00:49:08,995
Andrea Ghez discovered the
supermassive black hole
670
00:49:08,996 --> 00:49:11,884
at the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
671
00:49:20,509 --> 00:49:22,209
She also found evidence
672
00:49:22,210 --> 00:49:24,444
that it performs an astonishing function
673
00:49:24,445 --> 00:49:26,732
within the galaxies bulge.
674
00:49:33,523 --> 00:49:35,790
We've had one surprise after another
675
00:49:35,791 --> 00:49:37,859
in our study of the center of the galaxy.
676
00:49:37,860 --> 00:49:39,861
What we see is that there are
677
00:49:39,862 --> 00:49:41,596
very massive stars which tells us
678
00:49:41,597 --> 00:49:43,498
that they're very young stars.
679
00:49:43,499 --> 00:49:45,833
The last thing you expect near a black hole
680
00:49:45,834 --> 00:49:48,068
is to find a very young star
681
00:49:48,069 --> 00:49:51,672
because black holes are very
682
00:49:51,673 --> 00:49:54,042
inhospitable to star formation.
683
00:49:54,043 --> 00:49:57,479
They should just tear apart any cloud
684
00:49:57,480 --> 00:50:00,181
that might eventually become a star,
685
00:50:00,182 --> 00:50:01,954
so you really don't expect to see
686
00:50:01,955 --> 00:50:04,551
young stars, baby stars near a black hole,
687
00:50:04,552 --> 00:50:06,922
and yet all the stars that told us
688
00:50:06,923 --> 00:50:08,856
there's a black hole are the ones
689
00:50:08,857 --> 00:50:10,892
we predicted shouldn't be there,
690
00:50:10,893 --> 00:50:13,845
so it's one mystery after another.
691
00:50:18,834 --> 00:50:20,735
Near the supermassive black hole
692
00:50:20,736 --> 00:50:22,569
at the center of the Milky Way
693
00:50:22,570 --> 00:50:25,257
Ghez found many baby stars.
694
00:50:33,449 --> 00:50:36,050
This suggests something astounding
695
00:50:36,051 --> 00:50:38,619
that new stars may be emerging
696
00:50:38,620 --> 00:50:41,255
from the gases that originally accumulate
697
00:50:41,256 --> 00:50:43,475
around a black hole.
698
00:50:51,533 --> 00:50:53,068
The effect black holes have
699
00:50:53,069 --> 00:50:55,569
on surrounding space is not limited
700
00:50:55,570 --> 00:50:57,655
to the birthing of stars.
701
00:51:07,248 --> 00:51:09,250
A project spear-headed by NASA
702
00:51:09,251 --> 00:51:12,119
called TANAMI is endeavoring to capture
703
00:51:12,120 --> 00:51:14,406
distant galaxies.
704
00:51:16,291 --> 00:51:18,493
TANAMI involves the participation of
705
00:51:18,494 --> 00:51:21,228
radio telescopes in a dozen locations
706
00:51:21,229 --> 00:51:23,298
in the southern hemisphere.
707
00:51:23,299 --> 00:51:26,266
Chiefly, in Australia, but also in Chile,
708
00:51:26,267 --> 00:51:28,954
South Africa, and the South Pole.
709
00:51:31,739 --> 00:51:34,375
One of its targets is a galaxy located
710
00:51:34,376 --> 00:51:39,565
14 million light years
from earth Centaurus A.
711
00:51:44,622 --> 00:51:47,254
This is the image they obtained.
712
00:51:47,255 --> 00:51:50,792
A clear view of a plasma
jet violently shooting out
713
00:51:50,793 --> 00:51:53,628
from an invisible black hole.
714
00:51:53,629 --> 00:51:57,415
The jet bursts out at 30%
of the speed of light.
715
00:52:00,936 --> 00:52:03,004
Analysis of this jet turned up
716
00:52:03,005 --> 00:52:05,356
something quite unexpected.
717
00:52:11,846 --> 00:52:14,048
The jet shooting out of the black hole
718
00:52:14,049 --> 00:52:16,601
even escapes the galaxy itself.
719
00:52:20,122 --> 00:52:21,989
Its plume expands for a distance
720
00:52:21,990 --> 00:52:24,275
of a million light years.
721
00:52:27,629 --> 00:52:30,631
So the black hole doesn't
just guzzle down gases
722
00:52:30,632 --> 00:52:33,867
it sends out the stuff
that stars are made of
723
00:52:33,868 --> 00:52:36,655
far beyond its own galaxy.
724
00:52:40,144 --> 00:52:42,310
The role of the supermassive black holes
725
00:52:42,311 --> 00:52:45,812
in the universe is still
largely mysterious,
726
00:52:45,813 --> 00:52:49,034
but scientists are learning more and more.
727
00:52:57,892 --> 00:53:01,596
Cosmos looks the same
from Britain to Japan.
728
00:53:01,597 --> 00:53:06,267
Indeed, the night sky is
the same to all of us,
729
00:53:06,268 --> 00:53:08,836
and has been the same to all our ancestors
730
00:53:08,837 --> 00:53:09,970
throughout human history.
731
00:53:09,971 --> 00:53:12,806
It's the one common
feature of all humanity.
732
00:53:12,807 --> 00:53:14,175
They've all looked up at the night sky,
733
00:53:14,176 --> 00:53:15,709
and wondered at it,
734
00:53:15,710 --> 00:53:17,711
and interpreted it in their own way.
735
00:53:17,712 --> 00:53:19,113
It's a wonderful story
736
00:53:19,114 --> 00:53:20,614
when we found all these extraordinary
737
00:53:20,615 --> 00:53:23,985
objects in the universe,
and we can understand
738
00:53:23,986 --> 00:53:26,487
these vast cosmic horizons in a way
739
00:53:26,488 --> 00:53:29,324
that our ancestors could
only have dreamed of,
740
00:53:29,325 --> 00:53:31,511
so it's a wonderful story.
741
00:53:37,166 --> 00:53:39,633
Supermassive black holes.
742
00:53:39,634 --> 00:53:42,153
Monsters in the galactic cores.
743
00:53:45,540 --> 00:53:47,808
They may gobble up everything around them,
744
00:53:47,809 --> 00:53:50,379
but they also give birth to stars,
745
00:53:50,380 --> 00:53:53,180
and send out energy rich materials
746
00:53:53,181 --> 00:53:55,383
into the universe.
747
00:53:55,384 --> 00:53:57,651
Some came into being at the same time
748
00:53:57,652 --> 00:54:01,774
as their galaxies, and
grew along with them.
749
00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:06,895
What role have they played in the formation
750
00:54:06,896 --> 00:54:09,180
of the universe itself?
751
00:54:12,904 --> 00:54:16,570
This is a great mystery,
but one whose solution
752
00:54:16,571 --> 00:54:18,724
may be surprisingly close.
55825
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