The centre of galaxies

[ICIT2LOL]

I have been trialing painting with acrylics and one thing I wanted to paint and am failing miserably is pics of space views and it has prompted a curiosity to know what the very bright light is at the centre of a galaxy??

I have read that most galaxies have a black hole at the centre and indeed out own galaxy is said to be no exception but this further mystifies me as to why any galaxy outside of our own should so bright when viewed from an above or near above angle??

Anyone got any ideas??

 

[mitchell65]

What galaxy have you in mind here?

to know what the very bright light is at the centre of a galaxy??

Our home galaxy does indeed centre on a black hole. There really is only one other Galaxy that is naked eye viewable from the northern hemisphere and that is the Andromeda Galaxy. You can't of course "see" a black hole. It's mass is such that it produces such powerful gravitational pull thast nothng including light can escape. The only way we as mere humans can identify a black hole is to study the effect it is having on the surrounding bodies. When you think about it there is no up and down in space so you cannot view nything from "an above or near above angle".

 

[mitchell65]

So sorry, John. Just realised that you are in Australia, so in the Southern Hemisphere. Just that you see the other half of the heavens

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep Mitchell I knew about the black holes it is just that the Hubble scope shows up pics of galaxies and they invariably show the centre as a glowing "mass"?? as in the pic

So just what are those glowing masses ? the light/matter being sucked into a black hole??

Oh yes and I am an ex apt East Sussex bloke who has seen the northern hemisphere night sky many times over.

I also see you live in one of my favourite parts of England too having spent a bit of time there and in Devon on holidays both before and after shipping out here!! My brother lives in Wiltshire too and another really pretty piece of the old place.

 

[mitchell65]

As I understand it, a galaxy is made up of millions and millions of individual stars each with a unique orbit . The closer you get to the centre of the galaxy the closer together are the stars. As far as naked eye observing is concerned the closeness of the individual stars gives the impression that there is just one very bright light source in the centre of the galaxy but in reality if you could get a powerful enough telescope you would be able to separate that one light source into millions of individual stars!

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep well I was thinking much along the same lines you describe Mitchell and you would be hard pressed I guess to even try to separate out the stars eh?

Having said that I was as I originally assumed maybe the light being dragged into the black hole and being compressed by gravity but I think you have it in what you said.