Space Fan News #39: Hubble Directly Observes a Black Hole Accretion Disk; Asteroid 2005 YU55 Flys By

[fdasherv]

Damn that outfit's sexy! Oh, you so want it.

[sleepyfish]

whats up with "just like downtown"? :?

[godly04]

GOldeneye!

[AkiGavriloRadovic]

sorry man i don't read how would i read it

[mingrel1]

werevertumorro?

[gorby9POD]

What would you geeks do without acronyms? Seriously WTF?

[mgthaking]

Thanks!

[peyo001]

Thank youuu gravity....

[Barnicalsify]

"Juss Like Downtown." If you made shirts, they would be bought. I'm thinking I'll start using it. Freakin' awesome. You're the man, Tony.

[ElleRoni]

So how would the night sky look like in a quasar galaxy if we were to observe it from roughly the same distance from the galactic core as the Earth is located in the Milky Way galaxy?

[ElleRoni]

Holy shit at the observation of the accretion disc.

Science rocks.

[bigscarytigermonster]

HE1104-1825 - Such poetry. It just rolls off the tongue. XP

[sugarcanegray]

I'm waiting patiently for the end-of-the-world paranoia new world order conspiracy to kick in...

[Kriegfreak]

New subscriber. Love your stuff, and thanks.

[Blak433]

"Just Like Downtown" lol :D

[zalmanusa]

Wow, 400 metres across? That's kind of huge if you think about it, imagine a rock of that size hit a city at a fast speed, it wouldn't be pretty.

[tsjoencinema]

I mean a defense against meteors, asteroids etc.

[tsjoencinema]

Do you have an opinion on the matter planetary defense of Earth? There is none, do you think there should be? Worth the money?

[Yallniggasbetrollin]

I can't wait for 2005 I hope something is learned from it.

[OnslaughT44]

As always, thank you for this amazing video, and keep making 'em!

[interfan63]

can you give a background in your description please?

[PTNLemay]

Asteroid? ASTEROID? ASTEROID! ASTEROID!

Quick! To the fallout shelters! QUICK!

(just kiddin' lol)

[jaybow1982]

i wonder if the NEO Program has a way yet of doing something about an asteroid if one were about to hit us

[rollsthepaul]

Questionable info about YU55  user/atlanticobr#p/u/0/zbGBMIs­wpVU

[ThriveOnKilling]

@tdarnell I respect you so much.

[shermanr6]

AHHH, relief. Only 1263 PAJ's that we "know" about. Thank goodness there are probably another 12,630 we don't know about. The odds of something hitting us is next to zero.

[sausage4mash]

so if YU55 did hit ( I know it's not going to ) what damage would it do ?

[jaybow1982]

@sausage4mash well there's a video on Youtube ( youtube.com/watch?v=q40DlwiZp5­c&feature=feedu ) that reckons it would create a 7.0 earthquake and 70 feet (21 meters) high tsunami waves

[sausage4mash]

@jaybow1982 thanx ,that's some impact ! ouch 

[jaybow1982]

@sausage4mash no problem :)

oh and here's a link that actually works, hehe.

youtube.com/watch?v=q40DlwiZp5­c

[sluxy1nz]

ty always enjoyable.:-)

[funk192]

Thank you gravitational lensing, the universe's natural telescope :D

[fangjian]

2:30 lolz

[scottohscott]

This is a joke. Until astronomers image a steller black hole in THIS galaxy, these "measurements in darkness" mean nothing.

Try again Tdarnell.

[tdarnell]

@scottohscott Huh? What difference would it make to measure an accretion disk in this galaxy? Why is the measurement of a quasar less valid? Your comment makes no sense.

[sleeperawaken36]

@scottohscott : Your comment makes no sense, and shows your lack of knowledge on the topic.

[sleeperawaken36]

@scottohscott : Again, showing your lack of knowledge of what he even said. You are a troll, nothing more.

Go ahead, call me some more names, cause I know that's the only argument you've got. It's what people do when they don't have a good argument.

[scottohscott]

@sleeperawaken36 Well, perhaps you would care to elaborate on your "argument". Is the andromeda galaxy not the "accretion disk of a black hole"? I have imaged it many times. So, Hubble isn't the only one. There's nothing new about imaging galaxies.

[scottohscott]

@sleeperawaken36 Please elaborate about my "lack of knowledge", or go mix some more sound waves.

[breakaleg10]

Since quasars are so far away I have to ask: do these quasars still exist?

[ktmfr3ak]

thanks, again a great vid. :)

[john37309]

Thanks for a good video Tony. You make astronomy enjoyable.

John.

[MalikarVampire]

humans are so incredible, how we come up with these things is so wonderful

[19Tranc3r92]

Hey T! I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE AWESOME.

[MsWhitekanna]

Pretty neat how a passing galaxy made it easier to "look" at the quasar :)

Thanks for the news ^_^

[Danny77uk]

duck phone!!!!!

[doe791]

So the quasar image is reconstructed from data collected over time as the lensing galaxy/mass is moving across the quasar? How long did it take to have enough data to make the image?

[tdarnell]

@doe791 That's a good question, but I don't know the answer, I tried to find the paper this press release was based on with no success. I'll keep trying.

[pfmrokman]

I've never lol'd at one of your vid's B4, until 2:32. OK maybe the duck phone to Nobel office.

Love the channel.

Thanks for breaking stuff down for those of us that aren't scientists.

[MrNemitri]

Hey I live like 15mins away from the Arecibo Telescope XD, I should go there.

[tdarnell]

@MrNemitri Yes you should, it's quite a facility. And beautiful.

[mgthaking]

Chuck Norris hit a baseball!

[PREPARE4THEHYPOCRITE]

i love this guy acting all like he knows everything...hey mr smartypants...nasa and jpl are only guessing that it will fly by...they don't know for sure...what are you G-D??? i can't stand arrogant people like you...you know very little...amything can happen...so stop the stupid looks...

[tdarnell]

@PREPARE4THEHYPOCRITE They aren't guessing, they know. They've seen it, they've imaged it, and they know where it is. You don't need to be a god to just look up and take a measurement. What's arrogant about that?

[PREPARE4THEHYPOCRITE]

@tdarnell ...sigh...you missed the point...trajectories can an do change from various reasons...no one on this earth knows exactly what will happen...not even top scientists...they make calculated guess...guess what. i can roll a ball but if it hits a little bump...guess what....need i expand...

[sleeperawaken36]

@PREPARE4THEHYPOCRITE : Yes, there are a lot of bumps in space...LOL. Some people just like to Troll, and apparently you are one of them.

[sleeperawaken36]

@tdarnell : This guys (PREPARE4THEHYPOCRITE) account seems to have already disappeared...LOL. Good stuff as always tdarnell :)

[kenny8331]

@tdarnell why the fuck would you respond to that?

[Moontanman]

Damn, you mean it's not going to hit? I guess i'll have pay those credit cards after all.....

[EwPSoLDi3r]

Who else noticed that Genius right above his head ? *.*

[sneakerset]

Uh Oh....Mr. Darnell sounds (and looks) a bit "peeved" (2005 YU 55). I'm kinda surprised that Tony mentions a six-inch scope- other sites that I regard as reliable are reporting that seasoned watchers can utilize a 3.1" (80mm) for the Nov. 8/9 passes of YU 55.

[KesselRunner606]

We had all those warnings about this asteroid coming. But we didn't listen...We Didn't Listen!!! *sob*

[LKRaider]

Damn, we were organizing an local mass-suicide event, we have t-shirt out and everything... so, guess we'll be scraping that. For now.

[kliffrick]

Science FTW

[david25luvit]

Hey Tony...yeah I saw this video about Earth's upcoming near miss by yet another asteroid. Its reassuring to know we're monitoring these huge space rocks. Thanks for another interesting video update.... keep em coming good buddy!

[foely1]

Keep thinking Tony is talking, but its that other guy, messing with my head,

[alfader1]

omg, its the end

[TheCrookHook]

@assafwo What the fuck? lol You fuckin' nut.

[badblueman]

@TheCrookHook What are you talking about...it's perfectly normal to be offended by these disgusting things. When I meet people, I don't care about their personality, interests, their kindness or lack thereof. The most important thing is to dress up, not to wear glasses and be shaven. If I meet an unshaven person with glasses, I spit at him...if he happens to be standing in front of a bookshelf, game over, he's getting curb-stomped. When will people learn how offensive this is!!! Disgusting!

[TheCrookHook]

@badblueman No, the most important thing is NOT how you dress - it's the information that you spread. You would never have the balls to spit in someone's face yet alone let them know how you feel about this except when you're on the Internet; where small people like you can act big. If you're disgusted by this than do us all a favour and GTFO.

[badblueman]

@TheCrookHook Oh come on, how can that not alert your sarcasm (or is it irony) meter? Probably both here, but anyway...I was trying pretty hard to be obviously outrageous. You should try it sometimes. It's better than an angry "gtfo" etc. and it gives people, in this case assafwo, something to think about.

[TheCrookHook]

@badblueman I thought you were actually serious. I apologize in that case.

[johnnyrubin]

@assafwo What are you talking about? What's wrong with Tony looking like a normal human being instead of a Hollywood celebrity. If he sold this show to a big network it would only be for those with access to that big network who can watch this. He is doing this in his spare time. If you don't like what you see you can just not click his great videos.

[Kohox]

"And now we can - just like downtown' forced me to like the video (well i woulda anyway)

[assafwo]

where is your blog?

[assafwo]

i am not a space fan. please honor and dignify me!!!

[WILDLEGHORN]

Another Elanin fiasco on it's way...

[KimiScuderiaFerrari]

I always read your blog don't look at me like that! :D

[TripleX2go]

Why don't we just blow it up and never have to worry about it again.

[KimiScuderiaFerrari]

@TripleX2go We need to shoot up Bruce Willis with a nuke.

[3omab]

goodbye earth 2012

[SomedaysDreamersBC]

When will I be able to buy a Tshirt with the phrase "as always keep looking up" on it? Possibly with your face on  it?

[Reoh0z]

Blog is now new homepage for browser. Much <3

[pawndominance1]

is the accretion disk kind of like the event horizon?

[Films4You]

4:12 if they didn't know about it, nether would us... and if it hit know nothing about it ever

[kurtilein3]

Close encounters with asteroids are highly informative, some scientists say that our close encounters with Apophis caused us to understand the concept of gravitational keyholes, and their importance.

A fact is that we are now able to spot the bigger ones at a distance, and we have the ability (theoretically) to deflect them so that they dont hit earth. So we can protect ourselves.

[Deadmo]

DARNELL!!!! i love chu ;)

no really though, your vids are amazing i love learning about this stuff :)

if iam capabale id love to have a career in cosmology

[JimbobOMG]

Woot! Mountain Dew Throwback!

[huyked]

400 meter asteroid damage potential:

The primary result of such a collision would be a 4,000-megaton blast, researchers say. Secondary results may include earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.0 or upwards, as well as 70-foot (21-meter) tsunamis, if the space rock were to crash in the ocean.

Source - news(dot)softpedia(dot)com

Search '2005 YU55'

[etcjrwpolo1087]

Science KICKS ASS!!!!!!!!!

[pyrea17]

why do i find 2:30 so funny?

[G0sentrick]

Its so sad how an amazing and inspiring channel like this has only 25 000 subscribers, yet chriscrocker has 400,000.......

what a sad world we live in.

[Lukeschedel]

Why is the arecibo observatory so dirty?

[BelialAndar]

@Lukeschedel Because no one cleans it?

[Lukeschedel]

@BelialAndar I would think they would properly maintain and clean something of such importance...

[Adamas97]

The the asteroid coming so close wouldn't it be a good idea to land something on it? I mean it is so close it would save a lot on fuel and time.

[docatomics]

...I have been very concerned that we would not be studying this opportunity with full intensity, for want of a few nickels out of the survival spending budget

-this is slightly settling, thanks kindly spacefannewsteller :)

=eye can hardly wait for the sequel of the observation findings

[4tmosk]

I have an 8inch Dob, how much detail will I be able to see with this? If anyone knows send me a message, would be much appreciated, I want to know if it is worth trying to photograph it, Thanks!

[Kariakas]

Thanks for the upload, it's always a great pleasure to see you've uploaded something new for us.

[wfly81]

OMG!!! WE'RE DOOMED!! IT'S THE CLOSEST A NEO HAS COME TO EARTH IN BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF...WAIT...1976? LOL

Awesome as always, Tony!! I had a friend ask me why 2005 YU55 is so smooth and almost perfectly round. Can you answer that for me? I told him I don't know, but my best guess is that solar winds from subsequent passes smoothed it out as ice and dust was blown off, kind of like a stone in a creek. Of course, I don't know.. Can you shed some light on that for me?

[rich2rock]

OMG!! We're all gonna LIVE!!!!! AAAAGGGHHHHH!!

[billp1955]

Love your smile and enthusiasm Tony. Thanks (and your bloopers!)

[MrGOTAMA420]

we rock

[itsasin1969]

your getting much better at this, much more smooth, keep it up..

[x246869]

I have approved safety glasses for sale to protect your eyes from reflected sun light.

Just 3 equal payments, plus s&h.

Hurry while supply lasts.

Limit 2 per household.

[BrickUnit]

ELENIN = Extinction level event nearest in november

[DooMDrat]

@BrickUnit I've heard similar, except NIN stands for Near-Impact Nibiru. At least according to an idiot calling himself Alexander Retrov (real name Trevor Alexander), who claims he's in contact with someone with connections. Also claims he's the reincarnation of some egyptian pharaoh, and that Elenin would cause widespread disaster on September 26th. And that JFK was shot by his own driver.

Funny how the conspirators always have this overwhelming urge to use secret acronyms as official names...

[PREPARE4THEHYPOCRITE]

...jfk was shot by his own driver moron...@DooMDrat ...ahhh the arrogant sheeple...bahhh...

[eyeonwashparish]

lol goof reel

[Hopefulfilment]

"It just so happened ... that a galaxy passed in between ..." Yeah, that happened to me once... Come on.. really, what are the odds?

Gotta love the universe.

[LEDZEPPEL1N88]

wow i love your videos... i wish i found this stuff all day, id be set.

[SeltsamerAttraktor]

Great stuff, as always. Thanks man.

[EmpireBamboo]

Thanks for doing this. You really are helping me learn about astronomy.

[lewiszim]

Can you talk more about exactly how a quasar is fueled? I can never quite understand that.

[cristianfcao]

@lewiszim (Important disclaimer: I'm not an astrophysicist) They are believed to be "fueled" by the star material circling and being devoured by the black hole at the center of the active galaxy. All that matter being "rubbed" generates enormous energy and that makes them so visible. AFAIK, the mechanism behind the jet formation and what exactly are they made of is not fully understood.

[cristianfcao]

While responding to lewiszim a small question came to my mind: if quasars tend to be very far away and hence were formed only early in the history of the universe, how this is compatible with the fact that earlier galaxies were much smaller? Perhaps these earlier galaxies were much denser? Is it because the stars were a lot more massive than current stars? Does anyone know?

[kurtilein3]

@cristianfcao

Maybe they occur more frequently in young galaxies, and are rare in older ones. Also, apart from our own milky way galaxy and the two magellanic clouds (mini-galaxies that will hit our galaxy and will fuse with it) all galaxies are very, very distant. If it only happens in 10% (guess, just picking a high number) of galaxies at a time, and doesnt happen in our own galaxy and the magellanic clouds right now, you will only observe it in hundreds of more distant galaxies.

[elpablonicolas]

That is awesome, keep the very good work up, I don't read your blog but I love you for the great funny downtown videos you create. All the good to you friend.

[aaronCapricorn]

3 billion + light years. what has happened since then to these quasars

[SeltsamerAttraktor]

face at 0:00

[MichaelBramble]

Thank you for these videos and the time you put into making them!

[CodCats]

Amazing blog as always Tony! Keep up the great work!