Space is pretty cool. We should talk about it and learn things.
What you're seeing is 'footage' of the stars clustered around the black hole or Sagittarius A*. See that quick little one they zoom in on there? That is called S2. It takes fifteen years for S2 to orbit around Sgr A*. The distance at which S2 orbits the black hole is about three times that of Pluto from our Sun. Now...how long does it take Pluto to orbit our Sun?? That's right, 248 YEARS. Think about it!
Well. You can sort of read that, so I haven't got a whole lot more to add to it. To those who don't like clicking links, basically this article states that there is a black hole. It was discovered that there is a black hole orbiting that black hole. A binary system comprised of black holes! Ridiculous! The black hole orbiting through the accretion disk around the primary black hole was what tipped astronomers off-which is amazing, that they can figure all of this out from so far away. The orbit of the smaller black hole is deteriorating, and it is supposed to merge with the other black hole. But none of us will be around to see it.
And how's this for terrifying!!
Image
The top part is just an artist's rendition. The bottom two pictures though...those are real. That is actual imagery of a star in galaxy RXJ1242-11 being devoured by a black hole! The worst part about it-another star pushed it in.
How about something a little closer to home. Voyager 1 is currently the farthest man made object from home. The little space probe that could keeps on trucking, and has given us some awesome images of our galaxy. My personal favourite is Jupiter in motion. Its on its way to the heliosheath now, and apparently already passed through the heliopause. It's leaving the galaxy!!
Now come on and impart us with your astronomical knowledge. DON'T just post random and awesome pictures. Everybody knows about Astronomy Pic of the Day(if you don't, wtf), and even they explain to you what you are seeing. Give us some awesome facts. If you post a picture of something, TELL us about it. A little more than just 'this awesome nebula'. Do it right, or a murderous star might just push you into a black hole. Just sayin.
