But does it have a bar in the center? (Yes, it does, in fact, but maybe the wrong kind.)
The Galaxy Garden is an interesting idea. Artist Jon Lomberg put it together to give people a sense of the structure of the Milky Way. There’s a fountain in the center representing the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way; it’s (the black hole, not the fountain) currently not active so maybe a drain would have been better than a fountain.
Still, this looks pretty cool, and if I’m ever in Hawaii I’ll have to check it out!
October 1st, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Phil,
I think you meant …it’s (the fountain, not the black hole) currently not active… unless the black hole has shut down for a while and I thought they worked 24/7.
October 1st, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Also you should check out Mauna Kea, of course. I went there as a non-astronomer tourist type, but I had a blast seeing the huge complex on a bright, clear day. Bring a jacket, though. It gets a tit bit nipply at the top. Also, be sure to check out the new eruption on the Big Island that has created a 1.3 mile long lava river, complete with falls and bends. Cool stuff!
Oh, and this is for Mr. Hansen. Black holes go through periods of increased or decreased activity over their lives, and right now ours is not sucking in nearly as much stuff as it would in an active period. Granted, it still pulls some stuff in, but not as much as it does when it is in an active period.
October 1st, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Mark,
I think he meant that there is not currently a star being devoured by the black hole at this time. the black hole is still there, but we can’t really see it. If it were “eating” a star, we would be able to see all the crazy crap shooting out of it. But right now it’s more like a drain.
October 1st, 2007 at 4:28 pm
This is Amazing.
I guess I better prepare for the difficult journey from Oahu to the Big Island for the guided tour of the garden.
Speaking of Hawaii, I wonder why BA hasn’t been invited for any talks over here. We’ve had Richard Dawkins, and Zahi Hawass, so someone at UH Manoa better find a way to get BA to come here. I guess we’ll have to wait till the next book is out.
October 1st, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I’m sorry, this is completely off-topic. I’m writing some posts on a recent creationism seminar I attended. I’m looking for a quote they abused, and I remember too little detail. They were trying to make a point of the difference between empirical and forensic science. The quote by a famous scientist, and my memory fails me, explained that we do indeed observe the past, that it is in a sense, actually empirical. (They glossed over the quote, to laugh at “teh stupid scientist”.)
Thanks… (I feel bad about this OT thing, but it’s driving me nuts, and you guys seem like the right crowd to know this kind of thing?)
October 1st, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I think (and I’m guessing and possibly mis-remembering what I’ve read) that by “active” they mean the black hole is actively eating fairly regularly. That is, lots of stars getting slurped up in a cosmic slushie as is happening in other galaxies.
Currently, though, the SMBH at the center of the milky way is drowsing dreamily on its couch, reaching out to lazily slurp down a grape now and again.
oops – Mr Johns beat me to it. But I like my prose better, so I’m going to post it anyway.
October 1st, 2007 at 6:24 pm
isnt jon lomberg the guy that made much of the art for Carl Sagan’s COSMOS??
October 1st, 2007 at 7:36 pm
I think a bar in the middle would be a great metaphor for the black hole. Espescially a bar stocked with lots of Smirnoff.
October 2nd, 2007 at 5:27 am
I live in York in the UK. We have a scale model of the solar system built on the route of a cycle track. At 570,000 miles per meter, Pluto is over 6 miles from the sun. It is a cool model and brings home the immense distances involved in astronomy.
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:03 am
Thanks all for clearing that up for me. My mistake after all.
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:22 am
It’d be cooler if it were a hedge maze… but then again, I just like mazes.
Meanwhile, the bar in the middle should serve, of course, Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters. It’s the only logical choice.
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:35 am
I can’t tell if there is anything there, but it would be nice to have a marker to designate where Earth is as well.
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Thanks for all the comments. I hope you can all visit the galaxy someday. Some responses to your comments:
1) Regarding activity in the SMBH, the black hole is always “on” i.e. its gravity is always there. But jet activity is transient. As for the level of activity in the black hole, I take the long view, so the jet is adjustable to suggest different epochs of activity. Guided tours will explain that the current jet is nil, but at other times it may be significant (adjust jet to shoot up high and wet the delighted school kids or other tour group)
When there is no jet, the effect IS that of a drain ( see the event horizon ring in the Tour of the Milky Way at galaxygarden.net)
2) The location of Earth is marked in a manner befitting our importance, see Tour on website.
3) Yes, I was Carl Sagan’s collaborator on COSMOS and many other projects. See http://www.jonlomberg.com for more details
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Thanks for all the comments. I hope you can all visit the galaxy someday. Some responses to your comments:
1) Regarding activity in the SMBH, the black hole is always “on” i.e. its gravity is always there. But jet activity is transient. As for the level of activity in the black hole, I take the long view, so the jet is adjustable to suggest different epochs of activity. Guided tours will explain that the current jet is nil, but at other times it may be significant (adjust jet to shoot up high and wet the delighted school kids or other tour group)
When there is no jet, the effect IS that of a drain ( see the event horizon ring in the Tour of the Milky Way at galaxygarden.net)
2) The location of Earth is marked in a manner befitting our importance, see Tour on website.
3) Yes, I was Carl Sagan’s collaborator on COSMOS and many other projects. See http://www.jonlomberg.com for more details
4) In a year or so, the garden WILL be a maze of hedges too high to see over (masking the center almost completely)
5) Leo Blitz, who discovered the bar, advised on its size, shape, and orientation. I like the idea of a wet bar, sushi bar, or ice cream bar there, which would make it the Restaurant at the End of the Universe
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:06 am
Kona? What a bummer. If it had been on Oahu, I’d have dragged my family along when I visit them next month.
October 3rd, 2007 at 12:31 pm
[...] Phil finds a garden shaped like a galaxy. [...]