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| ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
− | This comic shows the picture of the {{w|Messier_87#Supermassive black hole|M87 black hole}} by the {{w|Event Horizon Telescope}} that was published on the same day as this comic. Overlaid on the picture is a scale image of the Solar System, showing the Sun, Pluto (one of the most well-known {{w|dwarf planet}}s) and its orbital path, and {{w|Voyager 1}}, a deep-space probe and the current farthest probe from Earth. The comic is quite similar to [[1551: Pluto]], in which Randall overlaid annotations onto the recently-released first images of Pluto taken by the New Horizons spacecraft.
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− | The point of the comic is to celebrate the release of this image by the Event Horizon Telescope, referenced two comics earlier, in [[2133: EHT Black Hole Picture]], as well as to indicate the hugeness of M87 and the awe-inspiring thing that space is. This image has been widely publicized as being the first image ever of a black hole. Science had no visual evidence of black holes at all [https://www.space.com/16411-black-hole-photo-nasa-telescope.html until 2012].
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− | In the title text Randall hypothesizes that if the Sun were at the center of M87, Voyager would be outside the event horizon. This is confirmed by a 2015 [https://arxiv.org/abs/1505.03545 study] in which the Schwartzchild radius of M87* was found to be 5.9x10^-4 pc, as opposed to the distance of 7.04x10^-4 pc, at the time the comic was written, between Voyager 1 and the Sun.
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− | The comic's scale seems to be slightly small; while the orbit of Pluto should be about 4.9 microarcseconds across, in the comic it's about 3.9 microarcseconds across.
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| ==Transcript== | | ==Transcript== |
| + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
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− | :[Caption above the panel:]
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| :Size comparison: | | :Size comparison: |
| :'''The M87 Black Hole''' | | :'''The M87 Black Hole''' |
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| :'''Our Solar System''' | | :'''Our Solar System''' |
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− | :[Caption at top left of the panel:]
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| :EHT Black Hole Image | | :EHT Black Hole Image |
| :Source: NSF | | :Source: NSF |
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− | :[An image of the M87 black hole captured by the event horizon telescope on the day that this comic was published is shown, in the shape of a thick red-and-yellow ring on a black background.] | + | :[An image of the M87 black hole captured by the event horizon telescope on the day that this comic was published is shown. A white ring about 1/4 of the diameter of the central black portion of the image is labelled with an arrow as 'Pluto'. A small white circle at the centre of the image is labelled with an arrow as 'Sun'. A small white dot on the right hand edge of the central black portion of the image is labelled with an arrow as 'Voyager 1'.] |
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− | :[A white ring about 1/4 of the diameter of the central black portion of the image is labelled with an arrow:]
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− | :Pluto
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− | :[A small white circle at the center of the image is labelled with an arrow:]
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− | :Sun
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− | :[A small white dot on the right hand edge of the central black portion of the image is labelled with an arrow:]
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− | :Voyager 1
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| {{comic discussion}} | | {{comic discussion}} |
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| [[Category:Comics with color]] | | [[Category:Comics with color]] |
− | [[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
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| [[Category:Astronomy]] | | [[Category:Astronomy]] |
| [[Category:Space]] | | [[Category:Space]] |