16 April 2008

More threats to (complacent) life




From: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/409/1
ScienceNOW Daily News April 9, 2008

The relatively quiet black hole atthe center of our Milky Way galaxycould one day reignite, spewingforth so much radiation that the skywould never darken. That grimscenario has become more likelybased on a new survey by Liverpool John Moores University astronomers. They used data from the SloanDigital Sky Survey to surveyspectral lines...It's not understood what is causing the black holes to become newly active, because in most cases there is no evidence of collisions or mergers. The answers have more than scientific relevance. The Milky Way's central black hole is currently quiet, but if for some reason it roared to life again, it could spew out deadly gamma rays and x-rays, possibly in our direction.

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