Destination: Black Hole
When the Null goes on holiday, we don't head for Mediterranean beaches or the slopes of Val d'Isere. We're looking for somewhere a bit more off the beaten track. Cat Charter explores tourism on the edge.
Ever wished you’d grown up in the sixties? Perhaps you have an inexplicable passion for flared jeans and flower power? Well why not take advantage of the space age and embark on a journey to a black hole, where you’ll find enough flares and psychedelia to last you the rest of your days – quite literally, because you won’t be coming back…
Black holes aren’t just what you get in black socks, oh no. They’re regions of space so dense that not even light can escape their gravitational pull. Groovy, baby. There are several types, but the ones you should think about visiting during your travels around the universe are the Schwarzchild type; these have masses four to five times that of our Sun and are formed during huge stellar explosions.
Choosing your black hole
Consult a good space travel agent, who will be able to provide the most up-to-date coordinates available for your journey. Although there are many potential candidate black holes, none are actually confirmed. However, as the technology hots up and more long distance reading can be taken, identifying your target destination should become less of a chore.
The longest known candidate is Cygnus X-1, is part of a ‘binary system’ in the constellation Cygnus, a cool 8000 light years from Earth. In a binary system, two celestial bodies orbit around their centre of mass. Studies of Cygnus X-1’s companion star show itorbiting around an unseen body, thought to be the black hole). Cygnus X-1 is also a mysterious x-ray source, giving off enough radiation to make your chakras tingle…. But a safer bet within the same constellation could be the smaller V404 Cygni (how big are black holes?), at about 10,000 light years from earth. And closer to home, you might find yourself a black hole at the centre of the Milky Way.
Getting there
Reaching your chosen black hole may prove problematic. Firstly, nobody has ever been to one and, actually, nobody is completely sure they exist. Since light can’t escape from black holes, they can’t be seen. But anyone in search of a truly mind-bending experience shouldn’t be put off, and there will be plenty of time for a full on hippy discussion about the philosophy of existence as you while away the months and years on your outbound journey...
What to expectIt is possible to sneak a peek at V404 without getting too close, as long as you don’t cross the Schwarzchild horizon – the boundary from which no light escapes at a Schwarzchild black hole. This panoramic view would be perfect for the first time traveller, or the more chilled out flower child.
Cross that event horizon, however, and things start to get really trippy. All that gravity really messes with your mind. One of the first things that happens is that you get multiple imaging: you seem to be seeing several copies of things, when there’s still only one. Don’t confuse this effect with that of hitting the bottle after months of boredom.
There’s also what’s called ‘conservation of surface brightness’, where things stay bright as they get further away. And if you’re not too spaced out by this point, you may notice time itself beginning to slow down.
When the spaghettification kicks in it’ll really mess with your head. Everything stretches in the direction of the gravitational pull, i.e. the centre of the black hole, untilit’s long and thin – just like spaghetti. Cosmic, man..
And if all that’s not enough for the hip and happenin’ space traveller, there are going to be some pretty good disco lights on the way to the centre of your chosen black hole. Light is blue shifted – bluer and brighter as it moves towards you - by the gravity of the black hole, but is red shifted (redder, dimmer) because the speed you’re fall into it makes it look like the light is moving away from you.
Lastly, you won’t be seen falling into the black hole. The light you reflect will be slowed by the formidable gravitational force and will take ages to escape. So any fellow travellers will see you moving slower and slower. In fact, the radiation you reflect as you cross the event horizon will hover there for ever, so it will never reach your craft-mates – they’ll never see you reach the horizon.
The return journey
Now may be the time to mention that once you cross the Schwarzchild event horizon not only will you never be seen, there’s no going back. Time has stopped, you’re held for ever by the awesome gravity of the black hole. But hey, chill out – what more could you wish for than an eternity of spaghetti and disco lights?Some people believe that at the centre of a Schwarzchild black hole, there is a wormhole. These are theoretical openings in space-time. Go through the black hole, ride the wormhole, then be spat out by a white hole in some far flung reach of the universe, or even other universe. Now that truly would be the trip of a lifetime.
Got the travelling bug? Try another Destination Space.
Or if you're still a bit spaced out, how about something different?
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Images: NASA
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