Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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 [2]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: [3]NASA's [4]GSFC, [5]J. Schnittman & [6]B. Powell; Text: [7]Francis Reddy ([8]U. Maryland, [9]NASA's GSFC) Explanation: What would it look like to plunge into a monster black hole? This image from a [10]supercomputer visualization shows the entire sky as seen from a [11]simulated camera plunging toward a 4-million-solar-mass black hole, similar to the [12]one at the center of our galaxy. The camera lies about 16 million kilometers from the black hole’s [13]event horizon and is moving inward at 62% the [14]speed of light. Thanks to [15]gravity’s funhouse effects, the [16]starry band of the [17]Milky Way appears both as a compact loop at the top of this view and as a secondary image [18]stretching across the bottom. Move the cursor over the image for additional explanations. [19]Visualizations like this allow astronomers to explore [20]black holes in ways not otherwise possible. Tomorrow's picture: galaxy in the furnace __________________________________________________________________ [21]< | [22]Archive | [23]Submissions | [24]Index | [25]Search | [26]Calendar | [27]RSS | [28]Education | [29]About APOD | [30]Discuss | [31]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [32]Robert Nemiroff ([33]MTU) & [34]Jerry Bonnell ([35]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [36]Specific rights apply. [37]NASA Web Privacy, [38]Accessibility, [39]Notices; A service of: [40]ASD at [41]NASA / [42]GSFC, [43]NASA Science Activation & [44]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2512/BlackHoleViz_Schnittman_8192.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/ 5. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/jeremy.d.schnittman 6. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/brian.p.powell 7. https://sedvme.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/francis.j.reddy 8. https://www.astro.umd.edu/ 9. https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/ 10. https://youtu.be/chhcwk4-esM 11. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14585/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220513.html 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_horizon 14. https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/Numbers/Math/Mathematical_Thinking/how_fast_is_the_speed.htm 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101207.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250702.html 17. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/ 18. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https://preview.redd.it/this-is-his-favourite-way-to-stretch-v0-o805r7e3b70e1.jpeg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=4fdeff86fded77eaee44002094bdd6eea51a19ea 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html 20. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/black-holes/ 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251202.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 27. https://apod.com/feed.rss 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 30. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=251203 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251204.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 34. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 35. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 37. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 38. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 40. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 43. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 44. http://www.mtu.edu/