ScottinSoCal 🇺🇦 🕊 🏳‍🌈 @ScottSoCal@computerfairi.es

Many galaxies have a 'supermassive black hole' at their center. These range from hundreds of thousands to billions times the mass of our Sun.

I was shocked to read that astronomers have found evidence for a supermassive black hole shooting out of its host galaxy.

They've seen a long thin feature - apparently a 'wake' of shocked gas and young stars - stretching 200,000 light years from the galaxy's center and ending in a bright object that's putting out 100 million times more power than our Sun.

This is consistent with a supermassive black hole that was thrown out the galactic center at a speed of 1600 kilometers/second, which has been traveling for about 40 million years. This speed is faster than the galactic escape velocity!

But what could be muscular enough to throw a supermassive black hole around?

Only two possibilities are known.

One is another supermassive black hole. When two galaxies collide, their central black holes meet - and may start orbiting each other. If a third galaxy with its own supermassive black hole crashes in, one of the three black holes can get flung out.

That seems quite reasonable to me: galactic collisions are fairly common.

The other possibility is weirder.

When two black holes collide, they can emit gravitational radiation that's beamed mainly in one direction... and this can give them a 'kick' in the opposite direction. I find this surprising in the first place. And it's more surprising that this effect can be big enough to kick a black hole out of a galaxy! But that's what some calculations say.

The paper is here:

https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.04888

and for more about the kick caused by gravitational waves, try this:

https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0702133

Just added the mugshot back to my LinkedIn profile because why not?

Always read the manual before assembling your Zelda.

Oh dear Lord! Fox is fucked. I hope Dominion takes them to the cleaners. The evidence of malicious libel is blatant and beyond doubt.

If you think a man should be worshipped because he has billions of dollars, then you’re a very special kind of moron.

Got dolled up yesterday cause I had a teacher parent conference for my kindergartener.

I don’t often put on make up but when I do I like to have fun & be super girly with it.

💋❤️🥰

@ScottSoCal could you please let me know how to do that?

I apologise for the lack of Alt Text in my last few posts. It's a new concept, and I'm trying to build the habit. I will do better in the future!

Last week 2 bone chilling events happened regarding the West Bank where I have many relatives. Radical Israeli settlers engaged in a massive violent attack on a Palestinian community AND a member of Netanyahu's cabinet called for wiping the entire community out. There's been a massive spike in Israeli settler violence versus Palestinian Christians and Muslims. Biden admin must use the funds we give to Israel to guarantee protections for religious minorities! My new MSNBC https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/settler-violence-israel-sparks-concern-hawara-rcna73143?fbclid=IwAR02t7Vwie6EMARibHInF8FiSopbzPAvv9UEXLE2CHHmdn-3JqtsteJrMgA

My orchid is blooming! 💕💜

come children let me tell you of a golden era when every day didn’t start with the words “the fuck did they do now”

When our homes turn into Amazon-owned surveillance fortresses, we lose any control over our safety and privacy.

Ring isn't safe. Not for homeowners, not for communities. Calling them "security devices" is farcical

This van that is CLEARLY a surveillance van has been parked outside of my house all day, so I’ve spent the entire day erratically walking around my house while saying a bunch of super weird stuff just to throw off their investigation.