A Map Of The Entire Universe In One Image

A Map Of The Entire Universe In One Image

If you ever happen to embark on a cosmic journey to the outer reaches of the universe, you may want to take along a copy of this map, which was created by musician and artist Pablo Carlos Budassi and encapsulates the entire cosmos in a single, mind-blowing image.

In order to create this incredible cartographic masterpiece, Budassi combined images from several of NASA's telescopes and rovers with logarithmic maps of the universe created by astronomers fromPrinceton University. Logarithmic maps are able to encapsulate huge areas within manageable graphics since they decrease in scale as they move outwards from the center of the image, meaning that the objects in the middle of the map are shown in a much larger scale than those at the edges. As such, the vast distances of the outer reaches of the universe are condensed into a relatively small area on the map.

The image features the Solar System at its center, beyond which is a region of icy objects known collectively as the Oort Cloud. The next ring features the Milky Way galaxy, as well as a number of other nearby galaxies such as Andromeda.

Further out, one can see the so-called cosmic web, an intricate network of connections along which galaxies are arranged. Interspersed with vast empty spaces known as voids, the cosmic web consists of interwoven strings that provide the underlying structure of the entire universe.

Moving further still towards the edge of the map is a ring of cosmic microwave background radiation, which is the very earliest radiation in the universe, leftover from the Big Bang itself.

Finally, a ring of quark-gluon plasma encircles the entire cosmic image. This is the primordial particle soup that was created by the Big Bang, and which filled the entire universe for the first few microseconds of its existence.

Budassi told Tech Insider that he first came up with the idea for a logarithmic map of the universe while making hexaflexagons for his son's birthday. These are paper structures that contain a number of hidden faces, condensing large amounts of information into a compact space.

With a map like this, there really is no excuse for getting lost the next time you happen to be navigating between Seyfert's Sextet and the Virgo Cluster.

What The Hell Is This Weird Object In A Frozen Lake?

What The Hell Is This Weird Object In A Frozen Lake?

A strange video is kicking up a storm online, appearing to show a bizarre dark circle in the middle of a frozen lake. The phenomenon, which occurred somewhere in Utah, appears to have large ice crystals embedded throughout.

As you might expect, numerous theories and guesses have been thrown around, including a rare fungus, fish blood, a viral marketing campaign or students making a prank video. However, one of the more credible sounding explanations suggests it could be the effect of an organism's natural antifreeze protein. These could interfere with the crystallization of the ice, causing the formation of the odd-looking structures.

A nearby takeaway coffee cup, which you can see in the video, is also a prime suspect.

So, what's your theory?

https://youtu.be/3czPzZn4_N0

How Big Can A Black Hole Get?

How Big Can A Black Hole Get?

Size does matter, and even black holes cannot grow indefinitely. According to a new piece of research, black holes at the center of galaxies can only reach a mass of about 50 billion times that of the Sun before they disrupt their feeding cycle and stop gaining weight.

Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) exist at the core of most galaxies and tend to be surrounded by a disc of gas, which acts as their main source of food. If the gas loses energy it falls inwards towards the black hole. This accretion disc can be easily disrupted, which interrupts the feeding cycle, stunting the black hole's growth.

Professor Andrew King of the University of Leicester has looked at the details of the arrested development in SBMHs. The results are presented in a letter (available on Arxiv) that has been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

"I was looking at a different question altogether, and then noticed that a formula which a colleague and I had worked out almost 10 years ago for a different purpose directly gave the mass limit," King told IFLScience. "In those days the largest measured black hole masses were much smaller (about a billion times the Sun I think) than now, so the question of a limit of about 50 billion Suns was less urgent."

As observational techniques have improved, we have been able to discover larger SMBHs, with the heaviest currently on record having a mass of about 40 billion Suns. So, understanding how the size of these monsters increases is now a lot more important; hypotheses can be tested against observations. Black holes can't be seen directly, so we need to look at other signs of their presence. We observe black holes by looking at the light coming off the disc around them or the powerful particle jets excited by the magnetic field.

According to King's calculations once an SMBH reaches the mass of 50 billion suns, the energy it emits is enough to break up the disc. An idealized disc (one that spins in perfect agreement with the SMBH) could lead to a much higher mass (270 billion suns) but it is highly unlikely to form that way. The letter suggests that it's possible for SMBHs to exceed the 50 billion limit if they are the result of two black holes merging rather than accretion from the in-falling material.

If these enormous black holes exist, they would be incredibly rare, and we would not be able to spot them with traditional methods.

"Probably the most likely way is to observe such a hole via gravitational lensing – light from a still more distant object (usually a quasar) would be bent by the hole's gravity," added King. "There is no reason in principle why we could not do this – we just need to be lucky."

[H/T: New Scientist]