How do we know there's a black hole in every galaxy centre? | History of Supermassive Black Holes

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  • čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
  • At the centre of every galaxy, there is a supermassive black hole (a million to a billion times bigger than the Sun). But how do we even know that? There are so many scientific results that have jigsaw-pieced together throughout the past century that allow us to know that now, so join me, as I go through decade by decade and explain the significance of all the results that have built up the big picture.
    00:00 - Introduction
    00:53 - 1900s
    03:58 - 1910s
    05:50 - 1920s
    06:58 -1930s
    09:04 - 1940s
    11:00 -1950s
    12:09 -1960s
    17:14 - 1970s
    18:38 - 1980s
    19:40 - 1990s
    22:12 - 2000s
    23:28 - 2010s
    Here are links to all the papers I mentioned throughout the video, again listed by decade (note that "et al." is Latin for "and others"):
    Michell (1784) - royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
    Fath (1909) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Einstein (1915) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
    Schwarzschild (1916) - commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
    Lemaître (1927) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Hubble (1929) - www.pnas.org/content/15/3/168
    Einstein (1931; cosmological constant introduced) - echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ECHOd...
    Chandrasekhar (1931) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Tolman (1939) - journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/...
    Oppenheimer & Volkoff (1939) journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/...
    Seyfert (1943) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Bolton, Stanley & Slee (1949) - www.nature.com/articles/164101b0
    Baade & Minkowski (1954) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Burbidge (1959) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Minkowski (1960) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Giacconi (1962) - journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...
    Hoyle & Fowler (1963) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Schmidt (1963) - www.nature.com/articles/19710...
    Kerr (1963) - journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...
    Salpeter (1964) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Zel’dovich (1964) - ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19...
    Schmidt & Matthews (1964) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Schmidt (1965) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Penrose (1965) - journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...
    Hawking (1967) - www.jstor.org/stable/2415769?...
    Hewish, Bell et al. (1968) - www.nature.com/articles/217709a0
    Lynden-Bell (1969) - www.nature.com/articles/223690a0
    Lyden Bell & Rees (71) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Wolfe & Burbidge (1974) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Bardeen, Carter & Hawking (1973) - link.springer.com/article/10....
    Bekenstein (1973) - journals.aps.org/prd/abstract...
    Balick & Brown (1974) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Sargent et al. (1978) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Dressler (84) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Kormendy (88) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Harms et al. (1994) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Miyoshi et al. (1995) - www.nature.com/articles/373127a0
    Urry & Padovani (1995) - arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/950606...
    Faber et al. (1997) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
    Magorrian et al. (1998) - arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/970807...
    Ferrarse & Merritt (2000) - arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/000605...
    Gebhardt et al. (2000) - arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/000628...
    Hopkins et al. (2006) - arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/050639...
    Simmons, Smethurst & Lintott (2017) - arxiv.org/pdf/1705.10793.pdf
    Martin et al. (2018) - arxiv.org/pdf/1801.09699.pdf
    ---
    📚 My book: "Space at the Speed of Light" is now available in the USA & Canada! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...
    📚 For anywhere else in the world you can buy my book here (Space: 10 Things You Should Know - same book, different title) here: bit.ly/SpaceDrBecky
    ---
    👩🏽‍💻 Dr Becky Smethurst is an astrophysicist researching galaxies and supermassive black holes at Christ Church at the University of Oxford.
    drbecky.uk.com
    rebeccasmethurst.co.uk
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Komentáře • 1,1K

  • @conors4430
    @conors4430 Před 4 lety +267

    I love how you explain how peer reviewed science builds on itself. It’s something so many people don’t get to see the importance of

    • @ramchandradey4059
      @ramchandradey4059 Před 3 lety +1

      Without knowledge of indian philosophy in particular and world philosophical thoughts in general neither science nor religion nor any other system of thoughts can wholly comprehend and explain the basic principles of reality as we are yet to conceptualize both the latent and manifest potency of humanity

    • @Z-add
      @Z-add Před 3 lety +2

      How did einstein came up with general relativity. Whose research did he build on?

    • @nnaammuuss
      @nnaammuuss Před 3 lety +2

      @@Z-add Well, not a physicist here, but I gather that the constancy of the speed of light in spite of relative motions, as well as some cosmological discrepancies (were known and) were already being discussed which he factored in. To quote concrete pieces of theoretical works, the 4-dimensional Minkowski spacetime was long derived, tensors, tangent-bundles and stuff well studied in mathematics both by algebraists and analysts, and more recent works by Poincaré on topological spaces to help _patching up_ general geometric objects piece by piece through one seamless framework were available to him, and in deed, sources say, motivated him.
      Not trying to infer that absolutely original research can't be done though. 👍

    • @Famous_Mist
      @Famous_Mist Před 2 lety +1

      How right you are. Because without it the path was open for flat earthers and other idiots

    • @bored78612
      @bored78612 Před 2 lety

      @@ramchandradey4059 People like you are so embarrassing man. Stop tooting your own horn acting like you are super smart when you clearly know nothing.

  • @DirtyRobot
    @DirtyRobot Před 5 lety +249

    Did not notice any editing. Just sounded like someone talking for 25 minutes about something they were very passionate about.
    So, 10/10 filming, 10/10 editing, 10/10 concept and execution, 10/10 story/information, 10/10 for the lead demonstrating an awesome way to communicate.
    10/10

    • @kimghanson
      @kimghanson Před 4 lety +11

      I thought you were exaggerating but it really is 25 minutes. Seemed like about 7 or 8 minutes. A sign of an outstanding teacher.

    • @radioactivet-rex286
      @radioactivet-rex286 Před 3 lety +10

      Also 10/10 cuteness

    • @DirtyRobot
      @DirtyRobot Před 3 lety

      @@radioactivet-rex286 Unfortunately I had to unsubscribe due to her BLM advocacy.

    • @StanColson
      @StanColson Před 3 lety +1

      Theory piled upon theory piled upon made up stuff. If you can't explain stuff, just fabricate (invent) a new thing like Dark Matter, or like Dark Energy, or Darth Vadar, or Dark Light, or Anti Light, or Anti Gravity, or Anti Big Bang. What a bunch of bunk these guys have constructed in order to keep themselves funded by clueless politicians or Anti-politicians (whichever lights your lava light). It is a religion really, but one that is ever changing, evolving, expanding, or anti-expanding ?? Maybe its a 'Dark Religion' ??

    • @dbaker3751
      @dbaker3751 Před 3 lety

      I noticed an edit at the 8:02 mark.

  • @Azameanie
    @Azameanie Před 5 lety +59

    Your histories of astronomy and astrophysics are your most interesting and most important episodes. More than just name dropping, you demonstrate that even the giants of the field, Hubble, Einstein, Hawking, all worked incrementally. They added pieces to a puzzle begun by men and women long before them, and still incomplete. These were always my favorite episodes of Cosmos (both of them). It’s inspirational as hell. 👍👍

  • @cowboyfrankspersonalvideos8869

    Great history lesson. Having been born in 1952, I feel privileged to have lived from just after the realization that the Milky Way isn't the entire universe, through the Hubble Deep Field photos, the discovery of supermassive black holes and the discovery of gravitational waves. My biggest cosmological regret is I probably won't live long enough to see what discoveries come from the future LISA program.

    • @danielthesantos
      @danielthesantos Před 5 lety +7

      HAH! Well that makes me -18 years older than you!! =D To be honest, I don't understand how they are going to manage that in space (LISA), but I can only imagine the discoveries. Plus I would think they would need some super-computing cluster out there to isolate all of the various signals. I'll have to read up more on it, but I don't know if I'll be around for it either! :)
      Thanks for sharing your perspective though. I would have been born when you were finishing high school, but it's amazing that it was *so recent* that we didn't know about galaxies yet!

    • @walkingwounded3824
      @walkingwounded3824 Před 5 lety +11

      Well, I am a baby, born in 1964. I am glad I'm not here with only "Genius children". This Dr. Becky is really good at explaining things so anybody could follow. Even an old, beat up rocker like me!@@danielthesantos

    • @KalRandom
      @KalRandom Před 4 lety +2

      @@walkingwounded3824 Na I'll be the baby in this chat, 1970.
      I'm amazed at what has been discovered in my lifetime.

    • @walkingwounded3824
      @walkingwounded3824 Před 4 lety

      @@KalRandom I see I've been replaced! lol

    • @godsownlunatics9650
      @godsownlunatics9650 Před 4 lety

      tHE ENTIRE uNIVERSE IS NOT THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT'S BEHIND THE SUN LET ALONE 3 SHIFTS OVER
      SURPRISES ARE INEVITABLE

  • @archaurore3323
    @archaurore3323 Před 5 lety +65

    I loved how you discussed the discovery of super massive black holes and how you finished with current research (including your own). As a very little girl (age 6) I went through my father's astronomy magazines and I remember very clearly how there was a flurry of articles about quasars and what they could possibly be. I think one of the most outlandish theories was that it was a star cluster or even a galaxy full of neutron stars. This was back farther than I'm willing to admit. It was only around the mid-80s or early 90s that I remember the super massive black hole theory being proposed in the popular Press.

    • @PuzzleQodec
      @PuzzleQodec Před 5 lety +7

      I remember an article I read as a kid that quasar were so bright, they must be white holes. Which was a fun read but I found it hard to believe. My main conclusion was that nobody had a clue so people felt free to speculate away.

    • @quietyard8014
      @quietyard8014 Před 3 lety +1

      Yeah it seems what we read then was like 10-20 years out of date.

  • @bobcabot
    @bobcabot Před 5 lety +155

    Congrats: You got the rare talent of explaining (really) complex things in an easy manner! ...cant wait to see you delve deep into the controvertial stuff...

    • @Tuning3434
      @Tuning3434 Před 5 lety +6

      You know that Dr. Becky is a regular in _60 symbols_ and especially _Deep Sky Videos_ ?
      I was kinda surprised she had her own channel, but I don't need Brady to enjoy her expositions.

    • @bobcabot
      @bobcabot Před 5 lety +4

      @@Tuning3434 I did not know that! ... she is just brilliant on her own ( better for her talent i guess ) ...

    • @danielthesantos
      @danielthesantos Před 5 lety +1

      @@Tuning3434 Brady hurt my feelings when he didn't do a video after the media release of the neutron star merger. I was so excited to see some deep sky videos on it. That was truly a revolutionary moment, the beginning of multi-messenger astronomy. Sorry for my off-topic lament! :)

  • @knucklecorn
    @knucklecorn Před 5 lety +153

    Interesting ✔
    Good audio ✔
    In focus ✔

    • @papinkelman7695
      @papinkelman7695 Před 5 lety +29

      Dr Becky ✔

    • @danielthesantos
      @danielthesantos Před 5 lety +3

      LOL! In focus or not, I love them. I just thought the other one was an artistic interpretation? ;)

    • @erictaylor5462
      @erictaylor5462 Před 5 lety +5

      I agree. But the lighting is a bit off. She looks like a Smurf. But who cares about the color of the lighting when her content is so engaging?

    • @katchou1337
      @katchou1337 Před 4 lety

      xD

  • @calyodelphi124
    @calyodelphi124 Před 5 lety +112

    I just love the enthusiasm and the energy you have with astronomy and cosmology. You're the kind of scientist we really need in this world.

    • @mountdrinan1
      @mountdrinan1 Před 4 lety +1

      @Carlos Saraiva she is NOT a scientist though. Scientific method cannot be performed in her area. She is what’s known as a pseudoscientist

    • @mountdrinan1
      @mountdrinan1 Před 4 lety

      @Carlos Saraiva I never do drugs so no. google “scientific method” . Now tell me how astronomy gets past the first stage of five. Yes. They can observe a phenomenon but I wait with baited breath as to how you think they can proceed through the remaining four 100% required stages. They are the dictionary definition of Pseudoscience....

    • @mountdrinan1
      @mountdrinan1 Před 4 lety

      Nah. I know I am clever. My assertion that astronomy is junk science is Sound and unchallenged. Good day

    • @bldtv7038
      @bldtv7038 Před 4 lety

      Carlos Saraiva 3 fallacies in one post. ad hominem , baseless assertion and a hand wave dismal. Do you care to tell me how astronomy follows the scientific method or do you want to hilariously give me more of your fallacy examples. I’m waiting

    • @bldtv7038
      @bldtv7038 Před 4 lety

      Carlos Saraiva , ok with the weakness of that reply are you about to concede or are you going to tell me how astronomy follows the scientific method ? I’m going to hold your toes to the fire until you answer this so no more weasel replies. Answer the question Einstein wannabe

  • @brodaclop
    @brodaclop Před 5 lety +28

    I really appreciate how you managed to put across (despite video being a linear medium) the idea that the path leading to our current understanding isn't so much of a path, but a constantly branching and merging network of discovery, with dead ends, U-turns and sudden leaps of faith that then had to be connected back to the rest.

  • @renaudkener4082
    @renaudkener4082 Před 5 lety +160

    Super massive "THANK YOU" for this video

    • @aidanjt
      @aidanjt Před 5 lety +3

      I see what you did there!

    • @Pradipawa
      @Pradipawa Před 5 lety +1

      Hmm.. really massive

    • @RalphDratman
      @RalphDratman Před 4 lety +1

      Be careful with that much mass! Safety first.

    • @erictaylor5462
      @erictaylor5462 Před 4 lety

      Do you think it's 4 or 5 billion solar masses?

  • @vencislav_krumov
    @vencislav_krumov Před 5 lety +31

    Thank you, Dr. Becky for making an entire film on the same subject as my a bit overdue assignment on the History of Astronomy course at my Astronomy master's program.

    • @DrBecky
      @DrBecky  Před 5 lety +21

      Vencislav Krumov 😂 you’re welcome - just don’t forget to reference me!

    • @Hailfire08
      @Hailfire08 Před 5 lety +2

      Hmm, what are the chances, eh?

  • @kingWesternTube
    @kingWesternTube Před 5 lety +35

    I really enjoyed getting some of the backstory. Please consider doing more videos like this.

  • @Tritium8
    @Tritium8 Před 5 lety +66

    What a fantastic story of science, well put together.

    • @Chew1964
      @Chew1964 Před 5 lety +2

      Yep! I added it to my favorites.

  • @BIGV1N
    @BIGV1N Před 5 lety +21

    Dr. Becky, you are my favorite astronomer EVER! I get excited whenever I see a new video from you!

  • @shezcop4987
    @shezcop4987 Před 5 lety +5

    Great how you put in the bloopers at the end. Thoroughly enjoyed this. I Subscribed immediately. Don't ever stop.

  • @dutubsucks
    @dutubsucks Před 5 lety +4

    Your passion for this and your joy in sharing it is fantastic. You also have a great balance in how in depth you go with every step. This was a great watch. Thank you!

  • @grayaj23
    @grayaj23 Před 4 lety +4

    THIS was for me your most fascinating video I've seen yet. Every bit of it was interesting and the history with the names and times was terrific.

  • @scottwatrous
    @scottwatrous Před 5 lety +18

    This is the kind of knowledge we need. Love hearing about the evolution of understanding.
    I would watch a similar episode on our understanding of stars in general.
    It's crazy how I don't remember our understanding of this being different while growing up in the 90s. I remember drawing black holes on my homework because the quasars are just so cool looking. I just assumed we knew that they were black holes for decades. But turns out it was fresh, and I was just too young to have any other knowledge.
    Also hearing you were born in the 90s is making me feel old as a late-80s baby. Like, holy cow, people born then already can be doctors of science studying black holes!
    Also is that your diploma there? It looks so cool.

  • @AlexPronovealexcooper1
    @AlexPronovealexcooper1 Před 3 lety +1

    The historical perspective you paint is the best part of your narrative and I notice you do it in many of your videos. That's what differentiates your videos from the others. You have secured that niche. Well done, Dr Becky.

  • @67comet
    @67comet Před 5 lety +8

    Improving every time you post a new video. Keep up the good work, listening to your explinations about all things Astrophysics is wonderful.

  • @noelwade
    @noelwade Před 5 lety +13

    Wonderful video! It takes a ton of effort to develop a good explanation on any topic - much less a story told over 100+ years by a variety of contributors. Thanks for putting in all of the effort, and gifting us this great presentation!

  • @bmenrigh
    @bmenrigh Před 5 lety +10

    The quality of your content is going way up. This video was fantastic. Good research, great presentation.

  • @thomaswolfe9539
    @thomaswolfe9539 Před 3 lety +1

    This channel is fantastic. Love that you don't skim over the details, but also focus on the big idea's from each observation / discovery to prevent from going into too much detail. Thank you!

  • @Biomirth
    @Biomirth Před 5 lety +1

    This is so so good Becky! I've never seen anything like it that takes us quickly and precisely through the understanding of galaxy cores over a century or research. If the BBC or NBC were to call you to redo this for them it would probably take 10 episodes and yet you condensed the material here in such a way as to be perfectly comprehensible for someone intermediate in understanding of astronomy. I had bits and pieces of this knowledge beforehand and now I have a strong sense of the research progression. As you said at the beginning it's a strange and almost miraculous thing that you can casually mention that of course all galaxies have a black hole at the center. The journey of this knowledge is such a testimony to the power of collaborative research over time it must rank up there with the best of the best of scientific discoveries that only happen over time.

  • @Flexible_photon
    @Flexible_photon Před 5 lety +11

    Very well done. Being 45 I remember reading about "possible" black holes back in the early 80s when I was a kid. I also remember quasars. it's interesting to see how all this fit together because it answered a lot of questions that I've had over the years. Thank you so much for filling in those spaces.

  • @zapfanzapfan
    @zapfanzapfan Před 5 lety +71

    Wait, you got a PhD at 26? Damn! :-)
    Very nice history lesson!

    • @realitycheck3363
      @realitycheck3363 Před 5 lety +3

      Yea, apparently PHD's are not what they used to be.

    • @vikingsoftpaw
      @vikingsoftpaw Před 5 lety +38

      @@realitycheck3363 Or may she's really bright!

    • @dreamdiction
      @dreamdiction Před 4 lety +1

      @@vikingsoftpaw they give PHd's to anyone who agrees with all the previous bullshit.

    • @than217
      @than217 Před 4 lety +8

      Whenever she said how old she was I took a good long look in the mirror. Pondered what I've done with my *cough* _35 years_ *cough*

    • @dreamdiction
      @dreamdiction Před 3 lety +1

      @Open Skies Science has become a belief system, like religion. There is no evidence that relativity happens anywhere other than in the mind of the person thinking about it, there is no evidence that photon particles exists anywhere other than in the mind of the person thinking about them, there is no proof that black holes exist, there is no scientific proof of cosmic inflation (big bang). Physics is real but cosmology is imaginative speculation, like religion.

  • @payday510
    @payday510 Před 5 lety

    Thanks for taking the time to do this. It's always great to hear experts discuss subjects they're passionate about. Can't wait for more :D

  • @lesconrads
    @lesconrads Před 5 lety

    Your audio and video did make a huge jump here - amazing!
    Thanks for spending the time to explain your field to the public.

  • @richtaylor6039
    @richtaylor6039 Před 5 lety +4

    Discovered you videos this rainy Saturday afternoon. Very enjoyable, looking forward to your book in September. :-)

    • @DrBecky
      @DrBecky  Před 5 lety +2

      Thanks Rich 👍 hope you like it when it comes out!

  • @gasdive
    @gasdive Před 5 lety +11

    Great video thanks. Love that Feynman always seems to pop up somewhere!

    • @MendTheWorld
      @MendTheWorld Před 4 lety

      gasdive I wish "polymath" weren't such a goofy sounding word for describing someone like Feynman, but he truly was one.

  • @skyrockit8271
    @skyrockit8271 Před 5 lety +1

    BEST VIDEO YET DR BECKY ! ! ! So much wonderful background and history ~

  • @Totumfacky
    @Totumfacky Před 2 lety

    Thank you for publishing your videos Dr Becky!

  • @Chew1964
    @Chew1964 Před 5 lety +5

    The best, most concise history of astrophysics on the webs. Thank you.

  • @BoldrepublicRadioShow
    @BoldrepublicRadioShow Před 5 lety +3

    I was having fun watching your notes move around, change pages, and even vanish and come back, as you spoke.

  • @peanut12280
    @peanut12280 Před rokem

    Great content, Dr. Becky. I love listening to your episodes because I feel I always learn something. And you do it while just being you.

  • @davidlillo3392
    @davidlillo3392 Před 3 lety +1

    Your intro statement is exactly why I fallow you. You give the background and take everything full circle until you get to where we are now and what questions we still have. 🥰🥰🥰

  • @markmaurer6370
    @markmaurer6370 Před 5 lety +49

    I think that this kind of historical focused science teaching is especially important for skeptical laypeople. You can list lots of facts about the cosmology of the universe, and I can list a bunch of facts about the Star Wars universe, and some of them would sound very much like your facts. Facts are easy to dismiss especially because fan based trivia is also rational and consistent, but totally fabricated. We're constantly bombarded with nakedly fictitious facts. Telling the human narrative is not only compelling teaching, it helps make science accessable to the emotional and sympathetic part of our psyches. Maybe a misstep for scientist, but very important for laypeople who might have suspicion born of ignorance.

    • @asshatteryengaged813
      @asshatteryengaged813 Před 5 lety +8

      @Mark Maurer : Very well said - I could not agree more. I'd only like to add that science has not nor will ever be infallible in the conclusions it draws. However, as more evidence/observation is accumulated, science self corrects and evolves. It's an incremental process that takes time.
      @Dr. Becky : Just think, two years ago right now you were scrambling to complete your PhD. Congrats on your accomplishment back then, and we look forward to your many contributions to human knowledge in the future. Thank you again for these videos.

    • @pseudorandomly
      @pseudorandomly Před 5 lety +12

      @Mark Maurer Not only does historical context assist those "who might have suspicion born of ignorance", it's also useful to answer the often-heard layman's question, "How do we _know_ that?" The answer is often, as in this video, a very long chain of observation, analysis, and confirmation. It's useful to be able to tell the story in this fashion, at least in a rough way, so they get the idea that this is evidence-based conclusion, rather than simply being made out of whole cloth.

    • @tetsi0815
      @tetsi0815 Před 5 lety +6

      Exactly! How often I met people who were convinced that for example Einstein sat at his desk just making everything up and then postulating it to the world. Once you explain to them that Einstein actually tried to explain experiments that had been done and that did not agree with the known physics of the time and that a lot of people actually contributed to / shaped his ideas they understand why we know, what we know and especially why scientists can - even if they don't know the 'correct' explanation - rule out wrong answers. It becomes less arbitrary to them at that point.

    • @e1123581321345589144
      @e1123581321345589144 Před 5 lety +4

      Totally agree. It's nice to see how the understanding of a concept evolves over time. When debating scientific discoveries I often bump into people who don't understand the scientific process and think everything is just in a theoretician's mind.

    • @grayaj23
      @grayaj23 Před 4 lety +1

      I agree. What I find the most compelling is that you can take a slightly difference "slice" of science and a lot of the same names linked to the same ideas will appear there as well. This mesh of ideas spans across the entirety of modern science and it becomes clear that if some little obscure prediction from way back in 1914 had been wrong, smartphones as we know them would not exist. The fact that a PET scanning device even *exists* reinforces the standard model of particle physics. The basic function of television is inextricably linked to how LEDs operate at subatomic scales.
      "That thing you're holding in your hand, with the video screen, condenser microphone, filmless camera, speakers, GPS and motion-detection all by itself demonstrates just about the entirety of the science that you're scoffing at."

  • @Malandirix
    @Malandirix Před 5 lety +19

    Really great video and presenting. Even rivaling those who've done it for years I think.

  • @williamtessier5449
    @williamtessier5449 Před 5 lety

    Your channel has become my favorite on youtube. I look everyday for something new form you, knowing it will be most interesting, and i love that. You are young and you present it in a fresh way every time. Please keep up the GREAT work.

  • @leslieviljoen
    @leslieviljoen Před rokem

    This is so fascinating, thanks for putting it together Dr. Becky!

  • @InfiniteRegress
    @InfiniteRegress Před 5 lety +5

    This is excellent, Dr. Becky! ^_^
    If you don't mind, I have a couple of black hole questions for which I haven't been able to find any answers anywhere (and I've really looked!).
    Why does anyone think anything can fall past an event horizon at all? Since time is flowing more slowly closer to the event horizon than it is farther from the event horizon, surely nothing in the entire history of the universe has ever crossed any event horizon, right? When it comes to relative motion, there is of course no preferred reference frame (although I would say the CMB is the best candidate), but when it comes to relative positions and gravity wells, wouldn't a reference frame with a faster flow of time farther from gravitationally induced time dilation effects be the one whose perspective "overrules" a slower one? Black holes could still grow because, while stuff that does fall toward a black hole could never cross the event horizon, the black hole together with the infalling stuff would then define a new, wider event horizon that later infalling objects could never cross, and so on. Black holes would effectively be event horizon onions! And wouldn't this also mean that singularities are impossible to form, too? As something compresses toward being within its own Schwarzschild radius, time moves more and more slowly for it relative to the surrounding universe; so, for example, the flow of time for a stellar core or neutron star that is collapsing into a black hole should just asymptotically become slower and slower, and since the frame of reference that gets to say what is "actually happening" should be the faster one, no black holes anywhere "actually" contain singularities--only an original, increasingly slow "seed" around which are the layers of newer event horizons.
    That was supposed to count as just one question, hah. :P My other question is about supermassive black holes and a process by which they might have formed. I've read about the direct collapse process by which the essentially zero metallicity gas of the early universe might have allowed for the formation of "stars" that were many tens of thousands of solar masses but almost seamlessly continued collapsing past that stage into supermassive black holes. I was wondering if, instead of by way of some sort of collapse, supermassive black holes might just be solar system scale regions of space where a couple hundred million or so stellar mass black holes and neutron stars happened to gather, pushing that region to its Schwarzschild density. A 1 billion solar mass black hole has an event horizon radius of almost 20 AU, which means that its density is less than 20 kilograms per cubic meter, or 50 times less dense than water. Having 333 million 3 solar mass black holes in that region would still allow for almost 15 lightseconds worth of distance between black holes. So, how plausible--in terms of time for the Population III stars to create a bunch of stellar mass black holes that could then collect toward a central region--is it that supermassive black holes could have formed this way? In other words, if we had magic vision that allowed us to look inside of supermassive black holes, we'd see a whole asymptotically slowing swarm of stellar mass black holes.
    Thanks in advance! ^_^

  • @carlg5086
    @carlg5086 Před 5 lety +19

    Dr Ph.D Astrophysics certificate in the background.... Winning! 👍🏻🇬🇧

  • @billb2176
    @billb2176 Před 3 lety

    Geez Becky - just discovered your channel and couldn't be more impressed with the summary of a few decades/centuries - impressive!!!

  • @redhaze8080
    @redhaze8080 Před 5 lety +2

    That was a really quality vid hey. Great work Becky!

  • @philbuglass4857
    @philbuglass4857 Před 5 lety +27

    Very interesting stuff... I knew a lot of this already, but not the historical context. Also, thanks for showing the photographs of the scientists! Interesting to put faces to some of the names we hear all the time. Be honest, readers, how many people would have recognised *anyone* other than Einstein?

    • @volkerbuescher
      @volkerbuescher Před 5 lety +3

      Feynman, Hubble, Lemaitre because of his soutane, maybe Oppenheimer...

    • @aidanlevy2841
      @aidanlevy2841 Před 5 lety +4

      I would have recognized Dr Becky too :)

    • @philbuglass4857
      @philbuglass4857 Před 5 lety

      Sorry, I forgot Hawking was in there... Still, he is more a contemporary than historical figure, which is probably why it didn't click.

    • @mal2ksc
      @mal2ksc Před 5 lety

      Hawking, Feynman, Zwicky, Bekenstein, and Jocelyn Bell. I'd consider all of them to be on my "I know who that is on sight" list. Probably some of the others just aren't coming to mind right now. Oppenheimer I'd know, but have to think about a little bit.
      Of those (including Oppenheimer, I know his voice better than his face), I don't have a mental image of Zwicky's voice but I do for the others

  • @urmeti
    @urmeti Před 5 lety +12

    More bloopers, pls ! xD

    • @blackthorne-rose
      @blackthorne-rose Před 3 lety

      "Flurrin"="flowing" ... "Exactly the same...pretty much.." lol

  • @tdoubt100
    @tdoubt100 Před 4 lety

    One of the best documentaries I have ever seen! Thank you Dr. Becky! I have watched this three times as the density of information is phenomenal and the history content is sublime. I love the story you weave right up to the present day. Thank you so much for this!!!

  • @Dappdude
    @Dappdude Před 5 lety +1

    That was a great video Becky! :D Love it!

  • @SpoopyGamer
    @SpoopyGamer Před 5 lety +11

    *clears throat* YAAAAAAAAAAAAY DR BECKY!!!!

  • @dimitriedgarmetz3147
    @dimitriedgarmetz3147 Před 5 lety +6

    Schwarzschild is pronounced: Swarts-shield not ...child or ...chilled as many english speaking say erroneously.
    Translated from German: Black-Shield
    Coincidentally appropriate, considering he define the formula for the radius of a black hole, establishing where the event horizon or the 'black-shield'
    At the event horizon the Time comes to a complete standstill, there's complete length contraction and charge reduction.
    See my video for the calculation: czcams.com/video/hYMvJum9_Do/video.html

    • @jamesdriscoll9405
      @jamesdriscoll9405 Před 5 lety

      Some papers written during WWI, while he was serving in the artillery

  • @wavemaker54
    @wavemaker54 Před 5 lety +1

    Dr. Becky, that was simply fascinating, amazing, and extremely interesting. Thank you.

  • @Dovil3334
    @Dovil3334 Před 4 lety +1

    Thank you for all the work you're putting in your videos. It is a real pleasure to learn from your videos.

  • @Carisus
    @Carisus Před 5 lety +12

    Totally referring to them as the "tensies" from now on. (tensy's?) (tenzies?)

    • @pawe3039
      @pawe3039 Před 5 lety +4

      And never by "noughtsies".

    • @baronet68
      @baronet68 Před 5 lety +2

      @@pawe3039 I agree... that sounds too much like 1940's European occupation. ;-)

  • @jwarmstrong
    @jwarmstrong Před 5 lety +25

    Dr. Becky your nobel prize in astrophysics is waiting for your paper. Please send by overnight mail.

  • @bimmergeezer
    @bimmergeezer Před 5 lety

    Thank you for this history lesson. I find it fascinating to see knowledge progressing. You did a wonderful job clearing this up. Keep up the great work!!

  • @landrybeck
    @landrybeck Před 2 lety

    I'm so glad I found your channel, Dr. Becky! You make Astronomy and Physics FUN, relatable, and understandable without being condescending about it. There are so many scientists out there with channels who present information with a very smug and high-minded approach. With you, it feels like we're all just hanging out in a casual cafe learning how we believe the universe works. Thank you so much for the quality content.

  • @garethjohn3389
    @garethjohn3389 Před 5 lety +7

    Excellent video! Interesting fact that I've read before: Karl Schwartzchild calculated the event horizon when he was in the Russian army on the eastern front of WW1 in the trenches!!!

    • @timkratz742
      @timkratz742 Před 4 lety

      He is called Schwarzschild and pronounced Shvahts-shill-d.
      Has nothing to do with children. Funnily, his name means "black shield" in German which is quite literally what a Schwarzschild-radius looks like.

    • @zaphod333
      @zaphod333 Před rokem

      @@timkratz742 Being late to the party, it's ˈʃvartsʃɪlt to be precise. 😜 Glad I'm not the only nitpicker.😇 I know it's hard though, and it doesn't make the slightest dent in my appreciation for the channel either.

  • @blenderpanzi
    @blenderpanzi Před 5 lety +3

    Very interesting video!
    Just one thing: it's not "Schwarzs-Child", it's "Schwarz-Schild". "Schild" being pronounced somewhat like "sheeld". It means black shield. :)

  • @byrnemeister2008
    @byrnemeister2008 Před 5 lety +2

    Superb video. You are producing some excellent science content. I like all the links to the source papers in the notes. This all must have been a lot of work. Keep it up.

  • @erikthedragongeek7657
    @erikthedragongeek7657 Před 5 lety +1

    My new favorite youtuber! Loving these videos already, great work, always been a fan of Astrophysics and Astronomy, kinda runs in my family. Robert L. Staehle, my uncle, and Lori Paul Staehle my aunt are in the field..

  • @peterbateman74
    @peterbateman74 Před 5 lety +4

    Is it fair to say that galaxies are just accretion disks for their black holes? Or am I overstating the importance of the black hole to the galaxy?

    • @DrBecky
      @DrBecky  Před 5 lety +2

      I'd say that's a fair statement. The galaxy is intrinsically tied to the black hole - any material pushed towards the centre, in theory, will *eventually* end up as part of the black hole

  • @lachezarkrastev7123
    @lachezarkrastev7123 Před 5 lety +16

    Those eyes are hypnotizing :)

    • @nagualdesign
      @nagualdesign Před 5 lety +4

      _facepalm_
      You do realize that it's 2019, and that objectifying women makes you look creepy, like Borat or someone from the 1970's, right? You might as well ask her to unbutton her top! She's an astrophysicist and this video is about astrophysics, and you want to comment about how pretty she looks?! Nobody is interested in reading about your sexual proclivities, thanks all the same. Maybe you should think about keeping those kinds of thoughts to yourself.

    • @lachezarkrastev7123
      @lachezarkrastev7123 Před 5 lety +2

      I like her eyes, what is your problem?

    • @MrMbc77
      @MrMbc77 Před 5 lety +1

      nagualdesign You clearly don't know what objectification is and you undermine those who are actually objectified.

    • @nagualdesign
      @nagualdesign Před 5 lety +4

      *objectification*
      _Woman:_ [Spends 25 minutes talking about astrophysics]
      _Man:_ You have pretty eyes

    • @lachezarkrastev7123
      @lachezarkrastev7123 Před 5 lety +1

      You are pathetic. Anyway, if Dr. Becky is offended my sincere apology! ... but I do not think for a second she has so simplistic way of thinking.

  • @cernunnos_lives
    @cernunnos_lives Před 3 lety

    You are amazing.
    Pure content, passion, and no fluff. Very few can hold this content cohesively to making a great point. History is even brought to the fore! Thanks.

  • @garymadden2328
    @garymadden2328 Před 5 lety

    Excellent again Becky, well told and easy to follow!

  • @jakubmidera4261
    @jakubmidera4261 Před 5 lety

    +1. Nicely shows the process. Breakthroughs and slow evolution of ideas. Great vid.

  • @anthonyoch8285
    @anthonyoch8285 Před 5 lety

    Thanks Becky! That was very well put together.

  • @AirCommandRockets
    @AirCommandRockets Před 5 lety +2

    Great video and very informative! Keep up the great work :)

  • @e1123581321345589144
    @e1123581321345589144 Před 5 lety

    Really love this approach. Education on the scientific process is just as important as education in scientific facts.
    Keep up the great work Rebecca and thanks for this. I know how time consuming these clips can become especially with this amount of research behind them so thank you.

  • @proprotornut5389
    @proprotornut5389 Před 3 lety

    Fascinating video. Really enjoyed this. Great work. 👍

  • @OldieBugger
    @OldieBugger Před 5 lety

    Great video, and it's amazing that you can present these subjects in such a way that even I can understand some of it!

  • @Arfonfree
    @Arfonfree Před 4 lety

    I so enjoy the opportunity to bring my knowledge of the universe up to date. Thank you very much.

  • @BillMSmith
    @BillMSmith Před 4 lety

    I just recently discovered this channel, and I'm enthralled. I've always wanted to know the back story (of everything), and you seem to be dedicated to providing that with your series. Thank you.
    Also, I love the way the style of the photographs of the earlier astronomers evolve over time. I wonder what photo of R. Smethurst will be used by future science communicators. If you could leave only the infant pictures for them it would make your achievements seem even more amazing.

  • @RaumBances
    @RaumBances Před 3 lety

    Excellent video. Thank you so much and congrats for being a part of the discovery and understanding.

  • @comatronic
    @comatronic Před 5 lety

    You are so fun to watch! You are very good at explaining the stuff I love. Binging!!

  • @martinpickard6043
    @martinpickard6043 Před 5 lety +1

    Thoroughly enjoyed that timeline explained.
    Shared this post 😃

  • @TheSadButMadLad
    @TheSadButMadLad Před 5 lety +1

    History and science together in one video. Wow! Nicely done video with good editing and nicely presented facts. Did I say it was nice. ;-)

  • @juanstepbehind
    @juanstepbehind Před 3 lety

    These extended videos are awesome!

  • @anushkamunasinghe9673
    @anushkamunasinghe9673 Před 5 lety

    Hey Doc, keep the great work going. :) Love your work.

  • @ValeriePallaoro
    @ValeriePallaoro Před 3 lety

    Thanking you for a previous video that I watched in which you explain how the colourisation works on star photos and Im no longer focussed on 'how did they get those colours' but can enjoy the pix for what they are.
    A late thanks but full hearted non-the-less.

  • @martinchambers8090
    @martinchambers8090 Před 4 lety

    Wow, thank you so much for all your superbly informative (and entertaining) videos. I wish I had found them long ago.

  • @darkwater234
    @darkwater234 Před 5 lety +1

    I didn't realize you had your own channel! I'm looking forward to catching up on your videos. Subbed!

  • @ChampuStrike
    @ChampuStrike Před 5 lety

    Im glad youtube reccomended me your channel, interesting easy to follow and understand

  • @ole9421
    @ole9421 Před 5 lety

    That was an amazing talk, Becky. BRAVO!

  • @rickwyant
    @rickwyant Před 5 lety

    Great explanation... subscribed and watching all your videos. Thanks.

  • @Gumby902
    @Gumby902 Před 5 lety

    Extremely interesting and informative video. Thanks Dr. Becky.

  • @grywacz
    @grywacz Před 5 lety

    Showing context and the history of thought and discoveries, as opposed to just the latest state of knowledge, is how one makes science approachable. Thank you for this great overview.

  • @RalphDratman
    @RalphDratman Před 4 lety

    Superb teaching and storytelling! Thank you so much, Dr. Becky.

  • @royhornyak8596
    @royhornyak8596 Před 5 lety +1

    Bloomin brilliant as usual. Thank you . :)

  • @mjaerkens
    @mjaerkens Před 5 lety

    Nice and steady subscription growth! Keep it up. Video was really good quality and very explanatory. I wonder how many subscriptions it will take before this channel goes blackhole.

  • @EtzEchad
    @EtzEchad Před 5 lety

    You have an awesome ability to explain things! I really like your videos. Thanks.

  • @Garrett0329
    @Garrett0329 Před rokem +1

    Thanks Dr. Becky
    Very insightful and makes me ponder

  • @Veptis
    @Veptis Před 5 lety +1

    phenomenal effort.
    I really hope EHT publishes soon and the 2020s become the decade of imaging super massive black holes surface.

  • @jeremyindenver
    @jeremyindenver Před 5 lety

    You're so good at this! Keep it up!

  • @richardmann145
    @richardmann145 Před 2 lety

    Fascinating when it's put like this how new all of this research is.
    Great post 👍

  • @vesa.tamminen
    @vesa.tamminen Před 5 lety

    After long time, i was curious to find some new black hole-videos (i love science).... i was ready to browse those same old documents, but i'm glad you just post your video. Great video, thanks for sharing!

    • @vesa.tamminen
      @vesa.tamminen Před 5 lety +1

      Plus thanks for great video description, didn't notice yesterday (even when you mention it)... now i can self-study black holes little bit more. Sorry my broken English, trying my best 😎

  • @slayerem
    @slayerem Před 5 lety +1

    Adorable! Your passion for your work and your ability to explain it to us, non scientists, surely makes you more than a "tiny" piece in this massive jigsaw that fascinates humanity for over a century now.

  • @alexstewart9747
    @alexstewart9747 Před 3 lety

    Excellent. You had my attention for the entire video.

  • @prydin
    @prydin Před 4 lety

    Wow! You are one heck of an educator! I’ve never heard this explained to clearly and succinctly before!

  • @evanherk
    @evanherk Před 5 lety

    Very interesting compilation dr Smethurst!

  • @Valc09
    @Valc09 Před 5 lety

    Really interesting dr.! I enjoyed watching it.