Welcome to Science Fridays: Black Holes! + Introductions

Science Friday: Black Holes
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Welcome to Science Fridays and this time let’s learn about Black holes!

Get your science hats on cause starting January 3rd, we will be taking Dr. Sharon Morsink’s course Astro 101 on this edition of Science Fridays. Taking your imagination on a trip around the universe’s greatest mysteries, Astro 101 dives deep into black holes and advancements in the field of astrophysics.

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Sharon Morsink, Associate Professor (Department of Physics, University of Alberta)

Let’s get started! Join in on the fun journey through the cosmos. In this dynamic course, we start off with introducing black holes within pop culture, where they got it right, and where they may have gone too Sci-Fi, and gradually upping the ante ending with showing recent advancements that include the groundbreaking 2016 observation of gravitational waves.

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Blackhole as portrayed in 2014 sci-fi blockbuster “Interstellar”

Introduction

Hi, I’m Mervyn and I’ll be your coordinator summarizing what we learn every week through slides and moderating the discussions during our weekly zoom sessions, sending our reminders and announcements so you’re on track to finishing the course, according to the schedule. As a fellow science enthusiast, I always looked up to the skies with awe and wonder. As I explored this mystery, my interest in it started to multiply. Through a book about the universe called “Universe”, I got to realize the sheer massiveness and colossal scale the universe operates in, the massive distances, masses, gravitational forces, and energy which are still incomprehensible even when the numbers are before us. I realized when taking the History of Science cohort, All of humanity was mesmerized and intrigued by the stars above us, this shows the significance of these celestial bodies on the human psyche.

So, I feel privileged and excited to learn and explore this course with all of you. To learn the latest developments in the field and I hope this course will push us to be more interested and amazed by the Universe and its mysteries.

My favorite celestial object as of now would be Jupiter, it’s a planet that always stood out to me with its Giant red spot and massive gas clouds! Do introduce yourself in this thread and share which celestial object fascinates you the most.

Looking forward to meeting and of course exploring the universe with you all!

Oh, and here are some useful links:
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Hope you have a great week!

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Mervyn, please don’t crush my dream world; I want to believe they got it all right in Interstellar movie. So, don’t you dare tell me it’s inaccurate! haha

Anyway, for who hasn’t met me yet, my name is Fabio and I’ll be @Mervyn’s assistant in this Cohort. Hopefully, my sci-fi dreams will come true eventually and I’ll be able to visit a black hole in person!

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This is so exciting! Can’t wait for it to start! Looking forward to listening to you both @Mervyn and @Fabio! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
By the way, I am Archisha from India. Looking forward to seeing you all at the Cohort!

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Hey everyone,

I’m Manoel, and I live in Belgium. Black holes seem like a fascinating topic, though a hard to understand one! I hope this course helps us wrap our heads around it. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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They definitely did a lot of research.As they were very close,

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this is the original image captured by The Event Horizon Telescope.

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My husband is a Radio Astronomer and is part of the EHT team, that published the first image of Black hole.
I plan to invite him to the zoom session sometime to answer any questions related to EHT project and Black Holes in general.

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I am Sonal from Cambridge, Massachusetts!
Love to learn about Blackholes with you all. Here is a photo of me trapped i side a black hole!

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Haha, nice one, @sonal! :laughing:

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That’s amazing @sonal
can’t wait!

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@Mervyn i had shared this video of my husband from Greenland — the telescope there is part of EHT.
Greenland Radio Telescope

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Hello everyone! I am the founder of Class Central and looking forward to learning with everyone!

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I’m looking forward to this cohort; I’ve been fascinated by space since I was a child.
My favorite space object? It’s a hard choice! Perhaps Saturn because of its beautiful rings.

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Fabio: I got an early start on the course, and I think you’ll be pleased with their assessment of Interstellar! :wink:

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I’m Karen; I took the Mountains mooc in the cohort, and now this one. I’ve gotten an early start on the course (I’m starting a different mooc in mid-January, not sure how much time I’ll have then) and I’m really enjoying it!
I’m afraid my favorite space object is pretty mundane: the moon. Two years ago I moved into an apartment with a great view of the sky, so I trace the moon’s path obsessively. I follow some stars and planets as well, but it’s a brightly-lit area so I can only see the really bright stuff.

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Hi Pat, nice to join you again

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Hi Karen, great to catch up with you again!

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I am looking forward to this!

I was always interested in space since a young teenagers and I was mesmerized by its vastness.

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Hi Rainer, glad to see you joining us. This does look like fun.

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hi Karen, nice to meet you here. I had an early start only on this forum and to meet my cohort buddies. I may have to go for some medical treatment and how that will complicate my life from January onwards, I am not sure, so, have jumped in early to socialize and hope to enjoy the class, as long as I have the physical strength to participate and keep learning. MOOCS are my medicine. So, I hope to learn actively with you all, as long I am able to keep learning actively. I have signed up for all cohorts starting in January! Hope I can stay with you all!

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Hi Sonal, great to meet you. I know what you mean about MOOCs, they’re very motivating for me. I hope you can stay as well, and if not, that we catch up later.

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