APOD 4.1

Today's picture is a very cool one from March 23rd.

This is an artist's rendition of a black hole. This is described as a swirling whirlpool of hot gas that has an endless void at its heart. While we have never actually seen or even gotten close to a black hole, scientists still know they are there by the effects it has on the surrounding areas. These are created by a solar collapse that leads to an object that is tiny but has a density up to 7 times that of our sun. These rotate very rapidly and suck in all light and objects that come into contact with it. I chose this photo because we have spend the past couple of weeks studying supernovae and back holes and this just seemed like the right photo to choose.