Janna Levin

the entire galaxy, you know, one big bright flash of light. So it's like a near-death experience, but it's definitely a total death experience.

the entire galaxy, you know, one big bright flash of light. So it's like a near-death experience, but it's definitely a total death experience.

Yeah. The clocks on the Earth, on the space station, seem to be progressing very rapidly relative to yours. The light can catch up to you, and you get this bright beam of light as you see the evolution of the galaxy unfold. I mean, it sort of depends on the size of the black hole and how long you have to hang around. The bigger the black hole, the longer it takes you to expire in the center.

Yeah. The clocks on the Earth, on the space station, seem to be progressing very rapidly relative to yours. The light can catch up to you, and you get this bright beam of light as you see the evolution of the galaxy unfold. I mean, it sort of depends on the size of the black hole and how long you have to hang around. The bigger the black hole, the longer it takes you to expire in the center.

Yeah. The clocks on the Earth, on the space station, seem to be progressing very rapidly relative to yours. The light can catch up to you, and you get this bright beam of light as you see the evolution of the galaxy unfold. I mean, it sort of depends on the size of the black hole and how long you have to hang around. The bigger the black hole, the longer it takes you to expire in the center.

Right. It would be a microsecond, and that would be too fast.

Right. It would be a microsecond, and that would be too fast.

Right. It would be a microsecond, and that would be too fast.

But a big black hole, you could actually hang around for some months.

But a big black hole, you could actually hang around for some months.

But a big black hole, you could actually hang around for some months.

No. So this is also why it's important to think of black holes more abstractly. They are something very profound in the universe, and there are probably multiple ways to make black holes. Making them with stars is most plentiful. There could be hundreds of millions, maybe even a billion black holes in our Milky Way galaxy alone. That many stars.

No. So this is also why it's important to think of black holes more abstractly. They are something very profound in the universe, and there are probably multiple ways to make black holes. Making them with stars is most plentiful. There could be hundreds of millions, maybe even a billion black holes in our Milky Way galaxy alone. That many stars.

No. So this is also why it's important to think of black holes more abstractly. They are something very profound in the universe, and there are probably multiple ways to make black holes. Making them with stars is most plentiful. There could be hundreds of millions, maybe even a billion black holes in our Milky Way galaxy alone. That many stars.

It's only about 1% of stars that will end their lives in a death state that is a black hole. But we now see, and this was really quite a surprise, that there are supermassive black holes. They're billions or even hundreds of billions of times the mass of the sun. millions to tens of billions, maybe even hundreds of billions. So extremely massive.

It's only about 1% of stars that will end their lives in a death state that is a black hole. But we now see, and this was really quite a surprise, that there are supermassive black holes. They're billions or even hundreds of billions of times the mass of the sun. millions to tens of billions, maybe even hundreds of billions. So extremely massive.

It's only about 1% of stars that will end their lives in a death state that is a black hole. But we now see, and this was really quite a surprise, that there are supermassive black holes. They're billions or even hundreds of billions of times the mass of the sun. millions to tens of billions, maybe even hundreds of billions. So extremely massive.

We don't think that the universe has had enough time to make them from stars that just merge. We know that two black holes can merge and make a bigger black hole, and then those can merge and make a bigger black hole. We don't think there's been enough time for that. So it's suspected that they're formed very early, maybe even a few hundred million years,

We don't think that the universe has had enough time to make them from stars that just merge. We know that two black holes can merge and make a bigger black hole, and then those can merge and make a bigger black hole. We don't think there's been enough time for that. So it's suspected that they're formed very early, maybe even a few hundred million years,

We don't think that the universe has had enough time to make them from stars that just merge. We know that two black holes can merge and make a bigger black hole, and then those can merge and make a bigger black hole. We don't think there's been enough time for that. So it's suspected that they're formed very early, maybe even a few hundred million years,