Black hole M87*: naming a beast humans have never seen before
is a beast with no name, at least not an official one. And what happens next could be cosmically confusing.
The International Astronomical Union usually takes care of names, but only for stuff inside our solar system and stars outside it. It doesn't have a committee set up to handle other objects, such as black holes, galaxies or nebulas.The last time there was a similar situation, poor Pluto somehow got demoted to a dwarf planet, leading to public outcry, said Williams College astronomer Jay Pasachoff, a star-naming committee member.
But Mamajek said his committee may not be the right one to grant the black hole a name. It only does stars.In 2006, astronomers at the IAU were discussing naming a large object in our solar system that eventually got called Eris. It wasn't considered a planet, so it wasn't the job of the planet committee. But some experts pointed out that it was bigger than Pluto, which added some confusion.
The three proposed names are Gonggong, a Chinese water god with red hair and a serpent tail; Holle, a European winter goddess of fertility; and Vili, a Nordic deity and brother of Odin.In 2017, a reddish cigar-shaped comet, about 800 metres long and named 'Oumuamua was detected, the first interstellar object found found in our solar system.'Oumuamua was found by the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS1 telescope.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Black hole photograph: Remarkable first-ever image of black hole revealedThe Event Horizon Telescope has released the first results of its finding, a 'groundbreaking' discovery that proves Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Read more »
'Science fact': Astronomers reveal first image of a black holeScientists released the first image ever made of a black hole, revealing a fiery doughnut-shaped object in a galaxy 53 million light-years from Earth
Read more »
Black hole photo revealed in astronomy breakthroughThe first photo of a black hole has been captured using a global network of radio telescopes.
Read more »
First photo of a black hole revealedAstronomers on Wednesday unveiled the first photo of a black hole, one of the star-devouring monsters scattered throughout the Universe and obscured by impenetrable shields of gravity.
Read more »
Scientists reveal first-ever image of a black holeScientists have revealed the first image ever made of a black hole, depicting its hot, shadowy edges where light bends around itself in a cosmic funhouse effect.
Read more »
Scientists just revealed what a black hole actually looks likeIt's the first ever image of a black hole's event horizon: the point at which gravity becomes so strong not even light can escape. Capturing the data was a huge feat that puts the laws set down by Einstein to their toughest test yet.
Read more »
Scientists reveal first-ever image of a black holeScientists have revealed the first image ever made of a black hole, depicting its hot, shadowy edges where light bends around itself in a cosmic funhouse effect.
Read more »
Black hole photo to go where no picture has gone beforeScientists are poised to unveil the first picture of a black hole using a global network of radio telescopes.
Read more »
The first-ever photo of a black hole could be unveiled this weekScientists are expected to unveil the first-ever photograph of a black hole this week. Here's what we know about the project and what it could help us discover.
Read more »
'Go back to where you came from…No black man at my table’More than 30 per cent of all marriages in Australia are now between two people born in different countries. Denne Cruz is in one of those marriages and knows all to well the difficulties of making an interfaith relationship work. via insightSBS
Read more »