The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing. - Frodo seeing Sauron through the Mirror of Galadriel in The Fellowship of the Ring
The Event Horizon Telescope just released the first-ever image of a black hole ... specifically a supermassive black hole with a mass 6.5 billion times heavier than our sun. This behemoth of a black hole is over 50 million light-years away in a galaxy we call M87. The little blob (in the picture below) is 25 billion miles across, and the bright part is brighter than all of the billions of other stars in that galaxy combined. To put it in context ... the black hole, shown below, is larger than our entire Solar System.
Here's a link to the original RAW (183 mb) image.
via National Science Foundation
The image shows a bright ring formed as light bends in the intense gravity around a black hole that is 6.5 billion times more massive than the Sun
In my opinion, the black hole image is even more amazing when you zoom out and see the entire m87 galaxy. The little black dot inside the orange is the black hole.
via NASA/CXC/VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY/J. NEILSEN
To take a step back, a black hole is a celestial object that has a gravitational field so strong that light cannot escape it and that is believed to be created especially in the collapse of a very massive star. It warps spacetime and superheats all surrounding materials.
“In space no one can hear you scream; and in a black hole, no one can see you disappear.”
―
Before today, black holes had only been observed indirectly. We had math that "proved it." Now, we have direct, observable, and corroborated evidence for everyone to see.
Do you understand the gravity of that?
In my lifetime, Black holes have gone from a fringe theory to a possibility, to a probability, and now, to reality.
It is amazing to think about how right Einstein's theory of general relativity was ... especially considering that he did the math in 1915, before we had the technology and science to back it up. The basic idea is that the relative velocity of light doesn't change, therefore it must be a constant in our universe. Using his math, we were able to predict how a black hole would "look", and it was supported by the Event Horizon Telescope's image.
Veritasium puts understanding the image into better perspective. Check it out.
via Veritasium
For a side note, the first proposal of black holes actually goes back to John Michell in 1784
"If there should really exist in nature any bodies, whose density is not less than that of the sun, and whose diameters are more than 500 times the diameter of the sun, since their light could not arrive at us; or if there should exist any other bodies of a somewhat smaller size, which are not naturally luminous; of the existence of bodies under either of these circumstances, we could have no information from sight; yet, if any other luminous bodies should happen to revolve about them we might still perhaps from the motions of these revolving bodies infer the existence of the central ones with some degree of probability, as this might afford a clue to some of the apparent irregularities of the revolving bodies, which would not be easily explicable on any other hypothesis; but as the consequences of such a supposition are very obvious, and the consideration of them somewhat beside my present purpose, I shall not prosecute them any further."
It took a massive amount of work to produce the photos of the black hole shown in this post. The ingredients: 200 researchers, 20 years, over 9 petabytes of data, 8 telescopes, and immense vision. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it also took the 104 years of research since Einstein's theory.
Powerful stuff.
For more:
- Here's a Reddit "Ask Us Anything" with the scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope
- Here's a TED talk from Dr. Katie Bouman in 2017, about taking a photo of the black hole. Katie went to MIT and led the creation of a new algorithm that helped produced today's image.
- Here are the six published papers by the EHT on today's achievement
- Here's another great video from the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics on today's image
Don't Miss The Forest For The Trees: Change Blindness
There are few certainties in life ... according to Benjamin Franklin:
According to the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus:
He's also quoted as saying "everything changes and nothing stands still."
Maybe he didn't pay his taxes.
Change is a constant, yet, it's often hard to see the forest for the trees.
It seems like just yesterday that my son, Zach, was making sand castles on the beach – or wearing silly t-shirts. Now, he's 26, the soft spot on his head has filled in enough to consider him an adult – and he is generally unrecognizable from that kid on the beach at the Jersey Shore.
On a day-by-day basis, I rarely noticed the change. However, looking at old pictures makes it obvious that there was massive growth and progress.
So, what did I notice? Sometimes it was what a great kid, or how loving, he had been. Other times, it was almost the opposite. Or, perhaps, I noticed that he didn't eat vegetables, or that he drove with a heavy foot. In any case, what I focused on is what my life seemed filled with, to me. And it was mostly about the moment. The bigger picture was lost (or hidden) behind the small things that make up the fabric of our life (or at least our perception of our life).
It is human nature. Survival of the fittest rewarded a focus on avoiding predators or other dangers ... as well as recognizing the opportunity to eat.
Thousands of years later, fear and greed still drive more than we like to admit. It is also a big part of the engine that drives our markets.
It is all about perspective, isn't it?
We are where we are. It doesn't really matter how or why we got there. We are here. And little-by-little we won't be here anymore.
If you are looking at the country or the economy, realize that it took years to get here. Simply changing a regime won't flip a switch. Some changes happen in slow-motion.
Or, perhaps from our perspective, some changes appear to happen in slow-motion ... but what others see as change, you see as symptoms of the root cause.
From different vantage points, the rate of change can seem different.
The same can be said for changes in a person or changes in a business. It's easy to see the gap between where you are and where you'd like to be. Regardless, you will probably get there faster by building momentum and confidence by focusing on the improvements and progress you're making. If you change your perspective - you may realize you've made more progress than you thought.
Tough times are great opportunities to discover character. I'm often amazed at the innovation and insight that occurs at times like these!
Don't pay so much attention to what you think you have to do that you forget the reason you're doing it in the first place.
Posted at 02:04 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Healthy Lifestyle, Ideas, Market Commentary, Personal Development, Trading | Permalink | Comments (0)
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