                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2025 December 3
   The illustration shows a structured orange band stretching horizontally
     across the imager. Connected in the middle is the Milky Way Galaxy
    curving up to the top of the frame. A second image of the orange band
      runs like a sine wave across the lower half of the frame, while a
   second image of the Milky Way galaxy appears just above it. Please see
               the explanation for more detailed information.

                  Visualization: Near a Black Hole and Disk
     Illustration Credit: NASA's GSFC, J. Schnittman & B. Powell; Text:
                  Francis Reddy (U. Maryland, NASA's GSFC)

   Explanation: What would it look like to plunge into a monster black
   hole? This image from a supercomputer visualization shows the entire
   sky as seen from a simulated camera plunging toward a
   4-million-solar-mass black hole, similar to the one at the center of
   our galaxy. The camera lies about 16 million kilometers from the black
   hole’s event horizon and is moving inward at 62% the speed of light.
   Thanks to gravity’s funhouse effects, the starry band of the Milky Way
   appears both as a compact loop at the top of this view and as a
   secondary image stretching across the bottom. Move the cursor over the
   image for additional explanations. Visualizations like this allow
   astronomers to explore black holes in ways not otherwise possible.

                  Tomorrow's picture: galaxy in the furnace
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

