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submitted 2 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] unknown@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 months ago

Hi Astrophysics,

I always wondered why they draw black holes like they do in that the accretion looks like it's drawn in two planes. I would have thought it would have looked a bit more like a saturns rings? Or is it exactly like saturns rings but we see the whole ring bent round the top because a black hole bends the light around so we can see it? Or is it something else entirely that they are trying to depict here?

[-] observantTrapezium@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 months ago

Yep, you got it right. The accretion disk is actually really flat. Those images are produced in simulations that take into account the curved (and very complex) paths light takes in the vicinity of a black hole. These images really depend on the angle between the line of sight and the disk.

[-] OrganicMustard@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

The second one. The image is simulated as how an external observer would see it. It was firstly done for the Interstellar movie.

[-] Natanael@slrpnk.net 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The first simulated images were actually computed decades ago, but I think Interstellar had the most detailed simulation by a high margin

https://www.cnrs.fr/en/press/first-ever-image-black-hole-cnrs-researcher-had-simulated-it-early-1979

Interstellar spent 100 hours of mainframe compute time per frame to simulate a black hole

https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/black-hole-photo-christopher-nolan-insterstellar-predicted-look-1202057414/

[-] OrganicMustard@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Wow, that first one is so cool.

Yeah, I misremembered the Interstellar paper that said it was the first simulation for a movie and thought it was the first image simulation ever. It's even referencing the old one there.