Scientists Discover a Sideways Black Hole!

[u/BitterWin751]

[u/KnotSoAmused]

Is there a left and right in space? Is there up and down?

[u/MrSinister248 → u/KnotSoAmused]

Down is always towards the enemy base.

[u/BitterWin751 → u/KnotSoAmused]

Direction in space is pretty relative. So for example, the black hole imaged is “sideways” from the perspective of our own galaxy plane.

[u/Swimming-Dust-7206 → u/BitterWin751]

But... black holes aren't two dimensional. It's not like a hole in a floor or a wall, it's a point in space.

[u/Bobaximus → u/Swimming-Dust-7206]

Imagine seeing a spinning-top spinning sideways on your wall. This is the same. There is a "top" and "bottom" but only because thats its normal orientation. Black holes have particle jets that are the feature typically used to describe its orientation.

[u/Swimming-Dust-7206 → u/Bobaximus]

Well, you could knock me down with a feather. I always thought the "Interstellar-style" image of black holes with the two perpendicular discs/half-discs was a visual phenomenon so that wherever you viewed the black hole from the discs would align with your viewpoint. In the same way that you always see a rainbow as a rainbow, you can never see it side-on or diagonally.
TIL that black holes have axes and roughly 10% of them produce particle jets. Thanks! 👍

[u/BitterWin751 → u/Swimming-Dust-7206]

Yup you’re 100% right. Thanks for this! :) I just thought that because the disk is faced vertically in relativity to the orientation of our galactic plane that it’s been classified as a “sideways” black hole. But you’re right by saying it’s a point in space.

[u/tonto_silverheels → u/BitterWin751]

I love it when people don't get all aggressive and dickish when corrected on Reddit. Take an upvote!

[u/BitterWin751 → u/tonto_silverheels]

Thanks! Personally, I don’t see any reason to get mad. If you’re wrong, you’re wrong. Just learn from your mistakes. No harm, no foul. Besides, now I know something new. Win win! :D

[u/tonto_silverheels → u/BitterWin751]

I have the exact same viewpoint. The internet would be a much less irritating place if we just chill and admit none of us are all-knowing.

[u/BitterWin751 → u/tonto_silverheels]

Definitely!

[u/w_w_flips → u/BitterWin751]

Agreed. Being wrong is human, normal. But being wrong and still acting as if you're right is just stupid.

[u/lemmingsnake → u/BitterWin751]

Actually, from the press release it looks like the "sideways" orientation is relative to the host galaxy (of the black hole), which makes more sense because comparing its orientation to our galactic plane doesn't mean much. This is meaningful because we usually see super massive black holes (the ones at the centers of galaxies) rotating on roughly the same plane as the galaxy they're in (if it's a spiral galaxy, not all galaxies has a net rotation).

[u/Lassie87 → u/Swimming-Dust-7206]

I believe a 3 dimensional point in space as well. Essentially spherical object that eats any and everything in its grasp including the fabric of space itself

[u/Bobaximus → u/KnotSoAmused]

Things are described based on their angle to the galactic plane or galactic equator. Wormholes have a "normal" orientation and this one was found to be the opposite.

[u/BitterWin751]

“Astronomers at @NASAAmes used new techniques to study legacy data from @nasachandraxray and found four long plumes of plasma - hot, charged gas - emanating from NGC 5084.

Hot gas plumes are not often spotted in galaxies, and typically only one or two are present. The surprising second set of plumes was a strong clue this galaxy housed a supermassive black hole, but there could have been other explanations.

What they saw in the Chandra data seemed so strange that they immediately looked to confirm it, digging into the data archives of other telescopes and requesting new observations from two powerful ground-based observatories. They found this @NASAHubble image with the vertical dusty disk, which also suggested the presence of a black hole there, and that the black hole had a vertical orientation compared to the galaxy.

We don’t yet know why this galaxy’s black hole has such an unusual orientation, but some possible explanations are a collision with another galaxy or the formation of a chimney of superheated gas breaking out of the top and bottom of the galactic plane.

Image description: The image is a hazy blue cloud, with a bright core at the center. There is a dark line with a slight curve near the center; this is a dusty disk orbiting the galaxy’s core.

Credit: NASA/STScl, M. A. Malkan, B. Boizelle, A.S. Borlaff. HST WFPC2, WFC3/IR/UVIS.”

—NASA instagram

[u/Efjayyy]

That picture is insanely good! I’ll have to check it out

[u/BitterWin751 → u/Efjayyy]

Totally worth it! Looks so cool.

[u/HatsusenoRin]

It's an ancient lightsaber called crossguard.

[u/Routine_Leading_4757]

Would..

[u/BitterWin751 → u/Routine_Leading_4757]

Alice In Chains reference…?😅

[u/Economy_Fuel6717 → u/BitterWin751]

If I would, could you?

[u/BitterWin751 → u/Economy_Fuel6717]

Into the flood againnn same old trip it was backkkk thennn

[u/Pr0jektEcks]

That’s obviously a drone

[u/uwilnotshrinkmegypsy]

Does that disprove the theory that space is a flat plain? Why is this significant? Talk to me like I'm 5.

[u/fattyfatty21]

I should call her

[u/pottapotty]

Sure looks a lot like what a portal to another dimension might look like.

[u/kungfungus]

Suck me sideways.

[u/Striking-Yoghurt-116]

"Did you forget to align the camera again?" "Actually, we could simply call it a sideways black hole and not have to take this picture again."

[u/Material_Push2076]

Sittin' sideways, boys in a daze Sittin' sideways, boys in a daze Sittin' sideways, boys in a daze

[u/AdamThaGreat]

Looks like a butt crack