"Huge Hole Found in the Universe"

[Hurrvish]

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070823_huge_hole.html

or


The universe has a huge hole in it that dwarfs anything else of its kind. The discovery caught astronomers by surprise.
The hole is nearly a billion light-years across. It is not a black hole, which is a small sphere of densely packed matter. Rather, this one is mostly devoid of stars, gas and other normal matter, and it's also strangely empty of the mysterious "dark matter (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070820_mm_dark_forces.html)" that permeates the cosmos. Other space voids have been found before, but nothing on this scale.
Astronomers don't know why the hole is there.
"Not only has no one ever found a void this big, but we never even expected to find one this size (http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=070823_huge_hole_02.jpg&cap=Illustration+of+the+effect+of+matter+on+the+co smic+microwave+background+%28CMB%29.+On+the+right, +the+CMB+is+released+shortly+after+the+Big+Bang,+w ith+tiny+ripples+in+temperature+due+to+fluctuation s+in+the+early+universe.+As+the+radiation+traverse s+the+universe,+it+experiences+slight+perturbation s.+In+the+direction+of+the+giant+newly-discovered+void,+the+WMAP+satellite+%28top+left%29 +sees+a+cold+spot,+while+the+VLA+%28bottom+left%29 +sees+fewer+radio-emitting+galaxies.+CREDIT%3A+Bill+Saxton,+NRAO/AUI/NSF,+NASA)," said researcher Lawrence Rudnick of the University of Minnesota.
Rudnick's colleague Liliya R. Williams also had not anticipated this finding.
"What we've found is not normal, based on either observational studies or on computer simulations of the large-scale evolution of the universe," said Williams, also of the University of Minnesota.
The finding will be detailed in the Astrophysical Journal.
The universe is populated with visible stars, gas and dust, but most of the matter in the universe is invisible. Scientists know something is there, because they can measure the gravitational effects of the so-called dark matter. Voids exist, but they are typically relatively small.
The gargantuan hole (http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=070823_huge_hole_02.jpg&cap=Illustration+of+the+effect+of+matter+on+the+co smic+microwave+background+%28CMB%29.+On+the+right, +the+CMB+is+released+shortly+after+the+Big+Bang,+w ith+tiny+ripples+in+temperature+due+to+fluctuation s+in+the+early+universe.+As+the+radiation+traverse s+the+universe,+it+experiences+slight+perturbation s.+In+the+direction+of+the+giant+newly-discovered+void,+the+WMAP+satellite+%28top+left%29 +sees+a+cold+spot,+while+the+VLA+%28bottom+left%29 +sees+fewer+radio-emitting+galaxies.+CREDIT%3A+Bill+Saxton,+NRAO/AUI/NSF,+NASA) was found by examining observations made using the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope, funded by the National Science Foundation.
There is a "remarkable drop in the number of galaxies" in a region of sky in the constellation Eridanus, Rudnick said.
The region had been previously been dubbed the "WMAP Cold Spot," because it stood out in a map of the Cosmic Microwave Background (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/map_discovery_030211.html) (CMB) radiation made by NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotopy Probe (WMAP) satellite. The CMB is an imprint of radiation left from the Big Bang, the theoretical beginning of the universe.
"Although our surprising results need independent confirmation, the slightly colder temperature of the CMB in this region appears to be caused by a huge hole devoid of nearly all matter roughly 6 to 10 billion light-years from Earth," Rudnick said.
Photons of the CMB gain a small amount of energy when they pass through normal regions of space with matter, the researchers explained. But when the CMB passes through a void, the photons lose energy, making the CMB from that part of the sky appear cooler.

I can feel something about "your mom" coming up :gonk:

[teh lag]

:lmao: I saw "gargantuan hole" there and lost it. Possibly, this is the butthole of God himslef? :o

[Limited]

Damn, 1 billion light years across, I cant even start to imagine how big, this kind of thing just boggles my mind completely.

[Abdurahman]

I can feel something about "your mom" coming up :gonk:




:p You're funny.

[Scream Thief]

Damn, 1 billion light years across, I cant even start to imagine how big, this kind of thing just boggles my mind completely.

Huge Hole Found in 9mm's Brain.

[Atty]

The universal equivalent of goatse.

[Kornman00]

Nice find D:


The universal equivalent of goatse.
If you didn't have so much moar rep than I Atty, I would +rep u :smith:

[Tweek]

you know what also has a huge hole right?

[mR_r0b0to]

XP with its security holes :D

or, your mommy.

[Huero]

:lmao: I saw "gargantuan hole" there and lost it. Possibly, this is the butthole of God himslef? :o
He wipes it well, we just haven't caught him shitting yet.

[Teh Ganon]

the fact that the universe is here and how anything exists makes me tear my hair out. very interesting, yet very confusing.

[Hurrvish]

It's easy enough if you can wrap your head around it.

AHHH, see what I did there?

Absolutely nothing.

[Roostervier]

It's easy enough if you can wrap your head around it.

AHHH, see what I did there?

Absolutely nothing.
I see what you did there.

[rossmum]

Awesome. Now to figure out what caused it...

Any theories (other than it being some sort of cosmic goatse)?

[n00b1n8R]

god ran out of ink?

[Flyboy]

There are probably more of those as you travel farther out from the original point of the big bang (if that theory is true). I find it hard to imagine that that hole could be a shrimp compared to others but if you think about it logically, there has to be more voids like this as your travel to less dense areas.

[rossmum]

You'd expect something of a smooth gradient, though, or so to speak. Not just holes millions of times as expansive as the surrounding ones scattered at apparent random.

[Flyboy]

Well actually, as matter clumps form into one solid mass (or several different starts) the gravitational pull of them would increase. It would take in more matter around it and add to its large puddle. Eventually all the matter in a given area would be put out into separate nebulas and what not, leaving a void.

That or we're simply looking at a puddle of dark matter.

[rossmum]

They said it wasn't dark matter, from what I recall; just an empty space. You do make a good point though, the randomisation would make sense since the big bang was, after all, a rather large explosion :downs:

[klange]

Big bang? Massive hole? Your mom?
All sounds very interesting...

[Dr Nick]

Awesome. Now to figure out what caused it...

Any theories (other than it being some sort of cosmic goatse)?

Black holes expand?

[Archon23]

Well it can't be a black hole because a black hole is just a REALLY dense concentration of matter.

[Warsaw]

And it would be giving off some amount of X-ray radiation if it were a black hole.

It's safe to say that we don't know what exactly this hole is, if it is anything at all.

[Archon23]

Well this is literally just a hole. Absolutely nothing. Its just black and really cold.

[Warsaw]

Dark matter and dark energy are black and cold too, but yes, this is just a hole, because we aren't detecting either in said perforation.

[Dr Nick]

Maybe a Grey hole?

Since, Black Holes suck, White Holes blow, I'm sure Grey is in between.

[Warsaw]

White holes are theoretical, black holes are proven. Grey is out of the question, since that would simply be open space, which neither has mass nor gravitational field of its own. It does, however, contain energy.

[Flyboy]

If there is a black hole there, we have no way to currently prove it here. Black holes are basically stars whose mass out limits their size. They claps in on them self, and take anything within range down with it. The only way to find a black hole is to find light sources that are being bent. According to Einstein's theory of relativity the gravitational force of a black hole would bend space time, thus any light traveling through space time would also be bent. Scientists can use gravitational lensing to determine the location of a black hole. However, in this instance, there is no light, just a one billion lightyear void, meaning that this process probably would not work.

As for using rays, many other objects in space emit the same kind of Gamma and X-rays, such as neutron stars and white dwarfs. Just because you can pick up a bit of X-ray doesn't necessarily mean you found a black hole.

Also, space doesn't contain energy. Energy is equal to mass, meaning you can have no energy without some form of matter. Space is just a void containing mass, space itself contains no energy.

[Warsaw]

Black holes in particular produce strong and steady emissions of X-rays and gamma rays. If there were a wavering source, that would tell us that it is not a black hole.

And you are also not counting the dark energy contained in all of space (10^-29 grams per cubic centimeter), and the vacuum energy.

[Mass]

The 4th dimension has a really big dick. Question answered.

But seriously, wow, I mean I find it just about impossible to imagine how insanely large that must be.

[Flyboy]

Black holes in particular produce strong and steady emissions of X-rays and gamma rays. If there were a wavering source, that would tell us that it is not a black hole.

And you are also not counting the dark energy contained in all of space (10^-29 grams per cubic centimeter), and the vacuum energy.

And you are also not counting the dark energy contained in all of space (10^-29 grams per cubic centimeter), and the vacuum energy.[/quote]
Dark energy was made to be an explanation for the universe expanding. However, I doubt space is expanding, merely the distance between objects. After the big bang (if true) things would expand, but because there is no resistance in space, the only thing that would stop objects from moving apart would be gravitational pull. But the heaviest objects (galaxies) wouldn't have much in their way, and they would keep moving apart, even to this day. Eventually it would stop, if the theory of some mystical force driving the expainsion of the universe. Keep in mind it is still a theory at this point.

Vacuum energy is really relative to how much faith you put in quantum physics. I don't have much background in quantum physics, and I don't believe in many of the concepts in quantum physics. Also, the vaccum of space is just technically has no pressure. There's no energy driving a vacuumed until an object comes in contact with space. If you open a door in space, all oxygen will be sucked out because of spaces pressureless environment. If you have an infanent amount of space (theoretically) and a non infanent amount of matter, there is no pressure in space.

[Dr Nick]

The 4th dimension has a really big dick. Question answered.

But seriously, wow, I mean I find it just about impossible to imagine how insanely large that must be.I know it was a joke, but the 4th is time.
OmegaDragons avatar is an example of it!

[Phopojijo]

Who wants bets its just interference from dust?

[Warsaw]

And you are also not counting the dark energy contained in all of space (10^-29 grams per cubic centimeter), and the vacuum energy.
Dark energy was made to be an explanation for the universe expanding. However, I doubt space is expanding, merely the distance between objects. After the big bang (if true) things would expand, but because there is no resistance in space, the only thing that would stop objects from moving apart would be gravitational pull. But the heaviest objects (galaxies) wouldn't have much in their way, and they would keep moving apart, even to this day. Eventually it would stop, if the theory of some mystical force driving the expainsion of the universe. Keep in mind it is still a theory at this point.

Vacuum energy is really relative to how much faith you put in quantum physics. I don't have much background in quantum physics, and I don't believe in many of the concepts in quantum physics. Also, the vaccum of space is just technically has no pressure. There's no energy driving a vacuumed until an object comes in contact with space. If you open a door in space, all oxygen will be sucked out because of spaces pressureless environment. If you have an infanent amount of space (theoretically) and a non infanent amount of matter, there is no pressure in space.[/quote]

Basic knowledge you have, I can see. The universe is expanding, yes, but it's the fact that it is accelerating in that expansion that gives rise to the dark energy theories. Nothing is going to accelerate without a force acting on it, and so far, dark energy is the only "explicable" force.

As for vacuum energy, I am faithful in quantum mechanics, so it stays valid in my book. Also, the interplanetary medium (space between planets) is considered a plasma.

[rossmum]

From what I understand, certain forms of radiation we know to exist commonly in nature would be physically impossible without quantum physics as we 'know' them today (though I use that term loosely; that's what I love about physics, everything's just so much deeper than it looks at face value). Quantum tunnelling is the only way beta decay happens (I think it was beta, anyway).

[Corgy]

maybe its where god done a big fart and the particles are trying to avoid the smell

[Flyboy]

From what I understand, certain forms of radiation we know to exist commonly in nature would be physically impossible without quantum physics as we 'know' them today (though I use that term loosely; that's what I love about physics, everything's just so much deeper than it looks at face value). Quantum tunnelling is the only way beta decay happens (I think it was beta, anyway).
Many of the theorys of quantum mechanics drive many things today. Hell, we wouldn't have transistors without it, thus no computers. So I do understand that we rely on quantum theory for many of our mathematical problems. However, I'm sort of with Einstein here, and find it extremely hard to believe in a universe where nearly anything can happen. I like it when the rules are laid flat out in front of me, random things don't just happen. I know to a lot of you it sounds ignorant to put quantum mechanics out of mind, but I do.

Also, warsaw, about space expanding. Yes it is true it is accelerating, and dark matter is the best theory we have now. However, I still doubt it (goes into my ideas regarding quantum theory). Anyway, imagine that something, rather than pushing things apart, is pulling them closer to it. Some kind of powerful force at the edge of space, pulling everything closer to it. I'm not saying that this is a sensible theory (I made it up about five minutes ago) but it probably work. Likely not the work of gravity, something more along the lines of an electro magnetic force.

I just can't accept the fact that there is just some random force pulling everything apart, it makes no sense. Then again we all could be wrong and god could just be taking a shit on us like corgy said.

[Haloking365]

Sounds alot like a Micro Dyson Sphere (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere). Ghosts of Onyx much?

[Flyboy]

Never read it.

[Warsaw]

So you're saying that there is something similar to gravity surrounding the outside skin of the universe pulling it in every direction at once? The only way I can see that is if we are surrounded by a myriad of other universes (likely) pulling at this one with their gravitational pull, and the same is happening to them, which would in theory cause all of the universes to merge, eventually.

[rossmum]

That could make sense, and there is a rather strong agreement now between physicists that we can't simply assume we're the only universe.

Also, Flyboy, I see what you're saying... though given the phenomena we know to take place which completely circumvent our well-established laws, I'm more than prepared to accept that anything is possible, and it's all controlled by probability. Who knows, we can't really prove it either way yet...

Also, black holes are another example.

Anyway, as for this... it could just be one of those rare times where the probability works out, or it could be some whole new level which is more prevalent than it seems. I'm interested as to where research on this leads.

[Flyboy]

Well the biggest problem is that if there is another universe doing the pulling, there really is no way we can find out unless we're able to design some kind of device that could rip through space time (slip space) and even then we don't know the necessary distance to travel. In my mind, we won't know the true answer to this problem for quite a while.

[n00b1n8R]

or we could wait untill they colide :o

[Flyboy]

If you want to try and wait a couple billion years, be my guest.

[Jay2645]

Well, that shows your tax dollars at work. Scientists have discovered... Absolutely nothing.

[Flyboy]

We don't put tax dollars to science, well, often. And jay, this isn't a fucking simple concept, it's extremely complex. I'd like you to try your hand at it, apparently me, warsaw and rossum are the only ones here who have any idea what we're talking about.

[Phopojijo]

So you're saying that there is something similar to gravity surrounding the outside skin of the universe pulling it in every direction at once? The only way I can see that is if we are surrounded by a myriad of other universes (likely) pulling at this one with their gravitational pull, and the same is happening to them, which would in theory cause all of the universes to merge, eventually.Actually the going theory if I remember correctly is that the universe is uniformly expanding. (This is referred to as Hubble Expansion).

Its not that the edges of the universe are exploding outwards from the big bang... rather that space is being created in uber-microscopic proportions all across the universe.

Locally everything is obeyed -- but over long periods of travel photons, for instance, from the theoretical big bang are traveling backwards through so much space that didn't exist when they were first made that they have been stretched long-past the visible spectrum.

[Warsaw]

Incorrect, the universe is accelerating.

Also, if one could survive long enough to get expelled by the theoretical white hole counterpart of a black hole, they might end up in one of these other universes. In order to do that though, you would have to be traveling extremely fast in order to outrun the gravitational pull, so to speak.

[Corgy]

guys where do I get my internet physics degree :smith:

[scribbsi]

call me wrong but i think u get it at a collage..

[scribbsi]

actually just talked to my dad.. he said ya

[CN3089]

call me wrong but i think u get it at a collage..

The LaffoWarsaw College of Star Trek Technobabble Physics http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c251/CN3089/Emoticons/emot-laugh.gif

[Jay2645]

I meant by scientists discovering nothing is they discovered a hole... full of nothing.
So they discovered nothing. And since I believe they had help from NASA, which is a government agency, there was some tax dollars going into that discovery.

[Hurrvish]

And I have an IQ of below 70 :downs:

[Phopojijo]

I meant by scientists discovering nothing is they discovered a hole... full of nothing.
So they discovered nothing. And since I believe they had help from NASA, which is a government agency, there was some tax dollars going into that discovery.actually NASA is usually not involved in much of the Astrophysics discoveries.

Hawaii -- yes, NASA -- no... mostly universities.

That being said, the Universities usually get Government grants.

[Flyboy]

call me wrong but i think u get it at a collage..
I've never gone to collage and I know this stuff. Hell, I'm just a friggen kid. I knew loads of astronomy before I even went to school, as in Pre-K (yes, I'm bragging). By the time I was ten I had a basic grasp on physics, and from then I just built onto it (internet). The only thing collage gets you is the idea for your employer that your educated. But with the modern world all you need is a dial up connection (or a huge amount of text books) and you can learn just as much if not more than if you were going to collage.

[Phopojijo]

I've never gone to collage and I know this stuff. Hell, I'm just a friggen kid. I knew loads of astronomy before I even went to school, as in Pre-K (yes, I'm bragging). By the time I was ten I had a basic grasp on physics, and from then I just built onto it (internet). The only thing collage gets you is the idea for your employer that your educated. But with the modern world all you need is a dial up connection (or a huge amount of text books) and you can learn just as much if not more than if you were going to collage.Albeit a lot harder since University paces it and arranges it for you in a way that is easier to learn.

[Warsaw]

Hardly...schools can't teach to save their lives. I learn more by reading than listening to a horribly compiled and ill-planned lecture.

Also, CN, I wasn't even thinking sci-fi with my last post, I was thinking Wikipedia's article on "white holes," and Schwarzschild wormholes. And for the record, I hardly ever watch Trek :p.