New NASA graphic reveals the terrifying fate of falling into a supermassive black hole. Researchers at the NASA Climate Simulation Center used the Discover supercomputer to create a simulation of what it would be like to plummet into an accretion disk of glowing gas around a supermassive black hole, similar to the one at the center of our galaxy. The video shows the observation angle as you descend, passing through light particles swirling around the black hole until you reach the event horizon – the point of no return where even light cannot escape.
Black holes are some of the densest objects in space, and scientists have a good understanding of their physics. Gravity around a black hole is so strong that it distorts space-time and causes objects to move close to the speed of light. This phenomenon slows time down near a black hole. Stellar-mass black holes, which are the most common type in our universe, create intense tidal forces due to changes in gravity and cause what’s known as the spaghetti effect – objects being torn apart before reaching their event horizons when approaching these black holes.
The new simulation focuses on what happens if someone gets too close to a supermassive black hole, like the one at the center of our Milky Way. These massive but relatively calm black holes still result in intense tidal forces and compress matter almost instantaneously after crossing their event horizons. The data for this simulation comes from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and observations by the Event Horizon Telescope of this particular black hole. The gravity near this supermassive black hole destroys any observer within seconds, making it clear that getting too close would be an extremely dangerous proposition for anyone unfortunate enough to fall into its grasp.
In conclusion, NASA’s new graphic reveals just how terrifying falling into a supermassive black hole can be. While we may never encounter one in real life, it serves as a reminder that there are still many mysteries left to uncover about our universe that could potentially put us all in harm’s way if we ever venture too far from home.