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o
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o
r
t
s
A
e
l
o
H
k
Blac
T
I
R
t
tation
i
a
v
a
r
G
and
lativi
e
R
l
a
n
o
ti
Computa
ty
NASA/JPL(Image(
16
Dennis(Bowen(@(AST(RIT(
Astronomers at RIT want to learn about
Black Holes and Gravitational Waves.
17
Because black holes do not emit light on their own,
astronomers at RIT use gravitational wave detectors
to look for them. They also run simulations to
investigate how black hole systems evolve.
e
ational-wav
t
i
v
a
r
G
r
e
t
ome
er Interfer
s
a
L
e
h
t
f
o
(LIGO)
Part
Observatory
~ 2.5miles
Credit:(LIGO(
The Clus
ter: Supe
rcompute
rs
at RIT
18
nal
io
t
a
it
v
a
r
G
d
n
a
Computers
ore
l
a
G
s
r
o
t
c
e
t
e
D
Wave
e
v
a
H
s
e
l
o
H
k
c
Bla
s
d
l
e
i
F
c
i
t
e
n
Mag
There is often g
as and dust
orbiting the blac
k hole in what
is called an accr
etion disk. This
material can be
charged, creating
a magnetic field
around the
system, just lik
e a bar magnet
or the Earth! The
se magnetic
fields can affect
the motion of
the material in
the accretion
disk.
N(
S(
BH(Drawing(Credit:(Bill(Saxton,(NRAO/AUI/NSF(
19
k
c
a
l
B
g
n
i
n
n
Spi
holes
Black holes are spinning. If two such black holes are
near each other, then the interactions of their spins
affect their motions.
Jet
M!
ZOO
Accretion Disk
Jet
20
Black holes sometimes come in pairs, called a binary!
In a binary, there are often small accretion disks
around each black hole and a bigger accretion disk
around the binary, as seen in this simulation. Eventually
the two black holes can even collide and become one
black hole!
Black
Hole
Real
Simul
ati
Gas d on of
ensi
Done b ty
y
astron
omer
at RIT s
!
Black
Hole
Credit: Dennis Bowen
y
r
a
n
i
B
s
e
l
o
H
Black
21
Black holes in a binary send out ripples in space as
they orbit. These ripples, called gravitational waves,
are very hard to detect.
should*
O
G
I
L
e
k
i
l
s
Instrument
ctions of
e
t
e
d
t
s
r
i
f
e
produce th
es in the
v
a
w
l
a
n
o
i
t
a
gravit
.
coming years
22
.co
Credit:(Space
m(