The Wonderful World of Black Holes
This is the second anniversary of our first photograph of a ”black hole, those much-ballyhooed objects that were once the stuff purely of imagination and theory, first posited in a rudimentary way by the lay astronomer John Michell back in 1784: A body with such a Newtonian gravitational ‘pull’ that corpuscles of light would fall upon itself like tiny droplets.
The properties of these strange cosmological objects were outlined more accurately in light of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity (1915), which, in line with its principle of matter-energy equivalence, proved that light – now seen primarily as a wave – could indeed ‘bend’ under the influence of gravity (as proven a few years later, with the warping of starlight around our own Sun). Around the same time, Karl Schwartzchild is credited with the first full theory of a point of matter packed so dense – close to infinitely so – that not even light waves can escape the pull of its immense gravity. When stars collapse, they may form ‘neutron stars’ – think of our own Sun, a million times the size of the Earth, packed into a space the size of a city – where a teaspoon of matter would weigh many tons. But the collapse sometimes continues, on and on, into realms that go beyond what we know of physics.
Black holes are sort of inaptly named. ‘Black’ because they are invisible to an outside observer, except for a ring of light around the ‘event horizon’, the point of no return, beyond which anything falling in can never get back out, entering a region where space and time are warped in ways we cannot (yet?) imagine. Yet within they are blazing infernos of light and energy, brighter than anything we could possibly imagine or (yet) see. What happens to Matthew McConaughey when he falls into one in Interstellar is weird and unreal – parallel universes and all that. What would really happen to you, great minds theorize, is ‘spaghettification’ – yes, that is a real term – with the gravity on your toes being so much greater than the gravity on your upper body that you would be stretched out like a long noodle, before being broken down to your constituent atoms, protons and neutrons, even your quarks, becoming part of the ‘hole’s’ immense energy. Not recommended.
Black holes devour everything in their path – yes, like all objects in space, they do move – and everything that ‘falls in’ makes them more dense, with more gravity, and hence more powerful. One of the larger ones could easily eat our entire solar system for breakfast, or as a mere appetizer (there are videos showing how such a turn of event might unfold). But worry not, for the black hole here pictured is in the M87 galaxy, 15 million light years away – untold trillions of miles, and its faint light from that distance gathered together over years from many layered images of hundreds of telescopes, making the wonderful composite photograph just released. It is also billions of times more massive than our own Sun, with all of that mass compressed into an infinitesimal point. We know not how many black holes there be, but be glad and rejoice in these Easter days, for all the problems we face, at least they are nowhere near our Solar system. Then again, that would certainly divert people’s minds (and bodies) from Covid and climate change. In God’s good providence, black holes must serve a purpose, perhaps as roving inter-stellar vacuum cleaners, tidying up the excess.
The universe is a strange and wonderful place, which should inspire awe in us humans, whirling around our own star, the Sun, as it whirls around our own galaxy taking all of us in its 43,000 miles-per-hour wake, the Sun in turn whirling around we-know-not-what – some ‘great attractor’ at the centre our Milky Way galaxy, itself perhaps another super-massive black hole. So Sun and moon, stars and nebulae, praise the Lord, and give glory to His holy name, Who orders all things well.
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop
As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→
Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk
(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk
As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→
The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace
Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→
Payette’s Payout
I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→