uniladtech homepage
  • News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
People can’t stop watching ‘mesmerizing’ simulation of what it would be like plunging into black hole

Home> Science> Space

Updated 08:57 8 May 2024 GMT+1Published 08:58 8 May 2024 GMT+1

People can’t stop watching ‘mesmerizing’ simulation of what it would be like plunging into black hole

This incredible simulation shows off the impossible.

Prudence Wade

Prudence Wade

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover
Featured Image Credit: NASA Goddard/YouTube
Space
Nasa
Youtube

Advert

Advert

Advert

What would it be like to fall into a black hole?

It's something none of us would be keen to discover IRL - mainly because your body would immediately spaghettify, stretching out like noodles, which doesn't sound particularly pleasant.

But you could be forgiven for still being a little curious. Luckily, NASA has come up with the goods, and released a simulation of what it might be like to plunge into a black hole.

The first part of the YouTube video is pretty mesmerizing - you get closer to glowing rings of light, entering through a black circle, with these strips of bright light increasingly twisting and bending around you.

It's undoubtedly cool - kind of like a two-tone kaleidoscope - but until NASA explain what's actually going on, it's difficult to decipher.

Advert

Things get even more fascinating when the video then dives into what's happening at every point of the process.

NASA first explains that it's a 'simulation of a flight into a supermassive black hole, surrounded by a hot glowing disc of gas'. The thin inner circle is the photon ring, which is made up of light rays that orbit around the black hole.

Then, the camera in the simulation plunges into the event horizon - which is essentially the boundary at the outer edge of a black hole, a slightly terrifying place where nothing can escape.

According to NASA, when the camera hits the event horizon, 'light from the outside universe still shines in, but can never leave'. Then the camera is destroyed and reaches singularity - the center of the black hole, where things are almost impossibly dense.

It's pretty amazing stuff - and was no mean feat to put together. This isn't something you can whip up on your computer on a rainy day - using a normal laptop, it would actually take over a decade to process.

Science Photo Library - MARK GARLICK / Getty
Science Photo Library - MARK GARLICK / Getty

Instead, this was made on the Discover supercomputer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. This impressive bit of kit did it in five days, apparently using only 0.3% of its processing power - which is a bit of a flex, if you ask us.

And people are suitably awe-struck by the video, expressing their amazement in the comments section.

"OK, I am going to watch this about 20 times. Then spend I don’t know how many years trying to really understand it. What I am amazed by is how there are people out there who really do understand it and who can build these super computers to do these simulations," one YouTuber wrote.

Another added: "What an extraordinary universe we live in. Beautiful, wonderful, awesome."

While a third chimed in: "This made my brain tickle. Thank you."

Choose your content:

17 hours ago
2 days ago
  • Donaldson Collection / Contributor via Getty
    17 hours ago

    Why humanity hasn't been to the Moon in 52 years as Artemis program aims 2027 landing

    The wait might soon be over

    Science
  • NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty
    2 days ago

    How to watch NASA's historic Artemis 2 mission as astronauts head for the Moon for first time in decades

    You can follow every moment in real time

    Science
  • boonchai wedmakawand / Getty
    2 days ago

    Implementing these small lifestyle habits can seriously reduce risk of heart attack and stroke

    Small changes can make a big difference

    Science
  • SCIEPRO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty
    2 days ago

    Scientists discover bizarre thing that happens to semen in space

    Humanity's future beyond Earth might be compromised

    Science
  • Astronomers believe they have witnessed the birth of a black hole
  • Horrifying simulation shows what it would feel like to ride 'euthanasia rollercoaster' with a 1,600 ft drop
  • Scientists simulated a black hole in a lab to test Stephen Hawking's theory and it started to glow
  • Terrifyingly 'realistic' simulation shows what would really happen to your body if you died in space