Post by Malachi Stone on Dec 28, 2016 14:32:46 GMT
This is an article I've submitted to the Scholar's Guild...
Although black holes are not uniform in their composition, they all do have certain structures or parts. The two best known parts of a black hole are the Event Horizon and the Singularity. The Event Horizon is the proverbial "point of no return". Any massive object, even light, that crosses the Event Horizon will feel the full gravitational effect of the black hole and be drawn into the Singularity. The Singularity is the point of the black hole where all the mass of the black hole has been compressed down to nearly zero volume. As a result the singularity has almost infinite density and creates an enormous gravitational force. The Singularity is detectable only by the presence of overwhelming gravitational force; nothing escapes it for us to detect. The Event Horizon is the radius from the Singularity at which an object is “trapped” and no longer has a chance of escape, thus, it is discernible only by observing material spiraling toward the Singularity. This spiraling matter forms a disk called The Accretion Disk. While this region is often visible, it is also throws off high intensity magnetic fields, highly charged atomic particles, and even gets of gas. These ejecta are perpendicular to the Accretion Disk itself.
Since black holes are made of a very large amount of matter in a small space, the existence of multiple black holes in close proximity implies that they should affect each other. There are numerous anecdotal reports of smaller black holes actually moving. I have never observed this phenomenon during my field studies, nor have I found any definitive research into this matter.
Black holes through-out the galaxy
While catalogs of known black holes are easily obtained (the most comprehensive of which appears to be www.swcombine.com/forum/thread.php?thread=55807&page=0), in this paper, we look at commonalities rather than lists.
When entering a system with a black hole, your sensors will show gravity wells just as if a planet or star was generating the gravitational effect. The black hole itself will not be visible but its position can be calculated simply by finding the center of the gravity well as demonstrated by the Black Hole of Quintas.
Unfortunately, black holes are likely to be found near other stars off which they’re “feeding” as in the case of the Crseih Black Hole
making the center of the gravity well more difficult to calculate.
Without any certainty of why, it has been noted that black holes often form in “clusters.” Depending on the distribution of the black holes within the system, this may result in an area of highly concentrated gravitational flux surrounded by easily traversed space as in the case of the Tyus Cluster
or a nearly solid area in which hyper-space travel is impossible like Galactic Center.
Regardless of the distribution of the black holes, they render hyper-space engines useless. Anyone flying through areas known to contain clusters of black holes must be careful not to abort hyper-space travel as their point re-entry to real-space is, for all practical purposes, random.
The Maw
The largest know cluster of black holes in the galaxy are in a region near Kessel referred to as “The Maw Cluster.” There has already been a fair amount written about The Maw (see for example holocron.swcombine.com/wiki/Maw). There is little for me to add save a summary of currently published material and an account of my experiences flying through The Maw.
Twenty black holes with overlapping gravity fields produce a maelstrom that encompasses an entire system. The stability of The Maw Cluster itself is something of a mystery, with some believing that an advanced civilization might have constructed it, rather than it forming from the merger of independent singularities like a normal cluster. The Maw is visible only due to the ionizing gases being drawn into it. It is nearly un-navigable. It is said one could only navigate the Maw with the help of The Force, yet pirates and smugglers have been known to map the system in order to travel safely to the Kessel sector. I have flown search and rescue missions through The Maw using little more than logic. With my navigational aids offline, I found that plain sight was my best guide. Avoiding the accretion disks and event horizons was difficult and, more than once, I nearly lost control of my ship as competing gravitational forces pulled on me from multiple directions. The original after action report the I filed after the operation is accessible here: platformxq1.freeforums.net/thread/5/malachi-stone?page=1&scrollTo=24
While it stands to reason that sane people would avoid such a hazardous entity at all costs, there are those who willingly live with such cosmic nightmares. The Maw is permanent home to a trade station, located on the edge of the system, and a luxury space colony, located at the center of the system. There is even an abandoned research station dating back into antiquity.
Practical Implications
The study of black holes is of more than academic interest. Interstellar traders, deep space scouts, and military convoys all need to worry about the existence of black holes along their routes.
Black Holes
The origin and structure of black holes
As everyone knows, a black hole is an astrophysical phenomenon with an extreme gravitational effect. Black holes typically result from the supernova of extremely massive stars, which result in matter so heavy that they could push into the fabric of space. Some scholars believe that some, if not many, black holes were created in the initial moments of the formation of the galaxy. There are even those who posit that black holes can, and have been, created through advanced technologies currently lost to (or at least hidden from) society. While this is a subject of debate, it is beyond the scope of my studies.
Although black holes are not uniform in their composition, they all do have certain structures or parts. The two best known parts of a black hole are the Event Horizon and the Singularity. The Event Horizon is the proverbial "point of no return". Any massive object, even light, that crosses the Event Horizon will feel the full gravitational effect of the black hole and be drawn into the Singularity. The Singularity is the point of the black hole where all the mass of the black hole has been compressed down to nearly zero volume. As a result the singularity has almost infinite density and creates an enormous gravitational force. The Singularity is detectable only by the presence of overwhelming gravitational force; nothing escapes it for us to detect. The Event Horizon is the radius from the Singularity at which an object is “trapped” and no longer has a chance of escape, thus, it is discernible only by observing material spiraling toward the Singularity. This spiraling matter forms a disk called The Accretion Disk. While this region is often visible, it is also throws off high intensity magnetic fields, highly charged atomic particles, and even gets of gas. These ejecta are perpendicular to the Accretion Disk itself.
Since black holes are made of a very large amount of matter in a small space, the existence of multiple black holes in close proximity implies that they should affect each other. There are numerous anecdotal reports of smaller black holes actually moving. I have never observed this phenomenon during my field studies, nor have I found any definitive research into this matter.
Black holes through-out the galaxy
While catalogs of known black holes are easily obtained (the most comprehensive of which appears to be www.swcombine.com/forum/thread.php?thread=55807&page=0), in this paper, we look at commonalities rather than lists.
When entering a system with a black hole, your sensors will show gravity wells just as if a planet or star was generating the gravitational effect. The black hole itself will not be visible but its position can be calculated simply by finding the center of the gravity well as demonstrated by the Black Hole of Quintas.
Unfortunately, black holes are likely to be found near other stars off which they’re “feeding” as in the case of the Crseih Black Hole
making the center of the gravity well more difficult to calculate.
Without any certainty of why, it has been noted that black holes often form in “clusters.” Depending on the distribution of the black holes within the system, this may result in an area of highly concentrated gravitational flux surrounded by easily traversed space as in the case of the Tyus Cluster
or a nearly solid area in which hyper-space travel is impossible like Galactic Center.
Regardless of the distribution of the black holes, they render hyper-space engines useless. Anyone flying through areas known to contain clusters of black holes must be careful not to abort hyper-space travel as their point re-entry to real-space is, for all practical purposes, random.
The Maw
The largest know cluster of black holes in the galaxy are in a region near Kessel referred to as “The Maw Cluster.” There has already been a fair amount written about The Maw (see for example holocron.swcombine.com/wiki/Maw). There is little for me to add save a summary of currently published material and an account of my experiences flying through The Maw.
Twenty black holes with overlapping gravity fields produce a maelstrom that encompasses an entire system. The stability of The Maw Cluster itself is something of a mystery, with some believing that an advanced civilization might have constructed it, rather than it forming from the merger of independent singularities like a normal cluster. The Maw is visible only due to the ionizing gases being drawn into it. It is nearly un-navigable. It is said one could only navigate the Maw with the help of The Force, yet pirates and smugglers have been known to map the system in order to travel safely to the Kessel sector. I have flown search and rescue missions through The Maw using little more than logic. With my navigational aids offline, I found that plain sight was my best guide. Avoiding the accretion disks and event horizons was difficult and, more than once, I nearly lost control of my ship as competing gravitational forces pulled on me from multiple directions. The original after action report the I filed after the operation is accessible here: platformxq1.freeforums.net/thread/5/malachi-stone?page=1&scrollTo=24
While it stands to reason that sane people would avoid such a hazardous entity at all costs, there are those who willingly live with such cosmic nightmares. The Maw is permanent home to a trade station, located on the edge of the system, and a luxury space colony, located at the center of the system. There is even an abandoned research station dating back into antiquity.
Practical Implications
The study of black holes is of more than academic interest. Interstellar traders, deep space scouts, and military convoys all need to worry about the existence of black holes along their routes.
- The presence of black holes within a system means that there will be large gravity wells preventing the use of hyper-drive engines. The Maw has a score of overlapping gravity fields resulting in only two small section of the system in which pilots can jump into hyperspace while the Galactic Center has even fewer safe jump points.
- The emanations of black holes interfere with scanners and navigational equipment making travel near black holes hazardous.
- Space craft getting near, but not crossing, the event horizon will be able to fly but without the aid of the usual navigational aids or scanners and potentially taking damage as they fight the gravitational effects of the black hole.
- In theory, a craft approaching a black hole perpendicular to the accretion disk should be able to get very close to the singularity. This theory is as yet untested as the emanations and ejecta that form perpendicular to the disk are likely to interfere with all electronic systems including life support and engines. If this theory is ever proven, it could revolutionize travel through black hole infested regions.
- A point of overlapping gravity wells, outside of any event horizon, may be stable enough to support craft or even stations as evidenced by the abandoned research station in The Maw.
- Carefully placed stations can take advantage of black holes within a system such that hostile forces are forced into specific approaches thus adding a natural defensive layer.
- “Wandering black holes” could account for the large number of vessels that abort hyper-space travel and are never heard from again.
