In this NASA Now episode, Dr. Daniel Patnaude, Astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, talks about how his team discovered the baby black hole, why this is important and how black holes create tidal forces. Throughout his discussion, Patnaude dispels many common misconceptions about black holes and the nature of the environment surrounding the feature.
The Chandra X-ray Center is operated for NASA by the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Recently, the team at the observatory, led by Dr. Patnaude, used data from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory to discover the youngest black hole known to exist in our cosmic neighborhood.
Link to NASA Now: Black Holes. (requires log-in credentials)
Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.
NASA Now Promotion Video
(Click on the video window below and then press your spacebar to start/stop the video.)