2026 April 3

Caught in the Web: Visualization of a Black Hole Merger in the Tarantula
|Nebula
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* Illustration Credit & Copyright:
** Artwork: Carl Knox OzGrav, Swinburne University of Technology
https://www.instagram.com/knoxcarl
https://www.ozgrav.org/
https://www.swinburne.edu.au/
** Astrophotography: Blake Estes & Christian Sasse, iTelescope.net
https://www.instagram.com/thescopesmith/
https://www.instagram.com/sassephoto/
https://www.itelescope.net/
** Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/cecilia.chirenti

Explanation:
How can we see what is invisible? Black holes are not easy to see in the dark cosmic night, but astronomers can find them by analyzing their gravitational effects on matter, light and spacetime. The featured image shows an illustration that combines a simulation of a black hole binary system in its final "death-dance" with an astrophotography image of the Tarantula Nebula in the background. Even though black holes don't emit light, they distort the path of light rays, acting like a gravitational lens. As a result, the nebula appears extremely distorted, forming Einstein rings and multiple images. Tarantula Nebula lies in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is one of the satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, 160,000 light-years away. That is more than 1,000 times closer than any of the binary black hole mergers detected so far. We'll probably never detect a merger so close to home!
https://science.nasa.gov/universe/black-holes/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF8THY5spmo
https://eventhorizontelescope.org/
https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/what-are-gw
https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/image/ligo20251028c
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240308.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lens
https://science.nasa.gov/asset/hubble/a-gallery-of-einstein-rings/
https://science.nasa.gov/gallery/hubbles-gravitational-lens-gallery/
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241002.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_galaxies_of_the_Milky_Way
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/the-galaxy-next-door/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gravitational_wave_observations
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260326.html

>> related TOPICS here on defcon.social :
+ Gravitational Lensing
https://defcon.social/@grobi/114374350096488478
+ Formations Nebulae Pillars
https://defcon.social/@grobi/114696771234606419
+ Novae, Remnants, Nebulae
https://defcon.social/@grobi/114787530730178263
+ Supermassive Black Holes
https://defcon.social/@grobi/114448092463278757

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260402.html

#space #gravitational_lensing #black_holes #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #physics #future #nature #NASA #ESA

2026 January 4

The Einstein Cross Gravitational Lens
* Image Credit & License: NSF, NOIRLab, AURA, WIYN
https://www.nsf.gov/
https://noirlab.edu/
https://www.aura-astronomy.org/
https://www.wiyn.org/
* Processing: J. Rhoads (Arizona State U.) et al.
https://search.asu.edu/profile/858089
https://sese.asu.edu/

Explanation:
Most galaxies have a single nucleus -- does this galaxy have four? The strange answer leads astronomers to conclude that the nucleus of the surrounding galaxy is not even visible in this image. The central cloverleaf is rather light emitted from a background quasar. The gravitational field of the visible foreground galaxy breaks light from this distant quasar into four distinct images. The quasar must be properly aligned behind the center of a massive galaxy for a mirage like this to be evident. The general effect is known as gravitational lensing, and this specific case is known as the Einstein Cross. Stranger still, the images of the Einstein Cross vary in relative brightness, enhanced occasionally by the additional gravitational microlensing effect of specific stars in the foreground galaxy.
https://aas.org/careers/career-in-astronomy
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-q2237/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-leaf_clover
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/what-is-gravity/en/https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/gravitational-lens-diagram-simple.jpg
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/science-behind-the-discoveries/hubble-quasars/
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220222.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap990331.html
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/science-behind-the-discoveries/hubble-gravitational-lenses/
https://pages.astronomy.ua.edu/keel/agn/qso2237.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap961215.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_microlensing

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260104.html

#space #gravitational_lensing #astrophotography #photography #science #physics #future #nature #NASA #ESA #apod

When will we discover that the nature of dark matter and the application of gravitational lensing allow us to look far into the past as well as far into the future? What pre-existing prerequisites for this have we overlooked and what would we have to recognize beforehand so that we do not overlook them? Why could this be important? Anyone who sees the future gets the chance to influence it positively ..
This is the ancient, present, and ultimately future hope of truly human science ..

https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/6h6r-46cd
https://premierscience.com/pjs-25-872/
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.15797
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.04472

#space #gravitational_lensing #astrophotography #photography #science #physics #future #nature #NASA #ESA