NOIRLab - The Closest Black Hole To Earth

<p>Black holes are some of the most interesting objects in the universe and can be hard to detect if they are not actively consuming matter and generating light. In this podcast, Dr. Kareem El-Badry discusses how he led a team that discovered a black hole that is not actively consuming material and that is also the closest currently known black hole to Earth.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Bios:<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong></p> <p><strong>Rob Sparks</strong> is in the Communications, Education and Engagement group at NSF’s NOIRLab in Tucson, Arizona..</p> <p><strong>Dr. Kareem El-Badry</strong> is an astrophysicist at the Harvard/Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span> His research uses a mix of telescope observations, stellar evolution models, and data mining of astronomical surveys to study binary stars -- that is, pairs of stars that are orbiting each other and formed from the same gas cloud. He and his collaborators recently published a paper reporting the discovery of a binary containing a dormant black hole and a Sun-like star, orbiting each other at roughly the same distance as the Earth and the Sun.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p> </p> <p>We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Just visit: <a href= "https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy">https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy</a> and donate as much as you can!</p> <p>Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Every bit helps! Thank you!</p> <p>------------------------------------</p> <p>Do go visit <a href= "http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop">http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop</a> for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!</p> <p><a href= "http://cosmoquest.org/Donate">http://cosmoquest.org/Donate</