Monster of the Milky Way

TV Program Description
Original PBS Broadcast Date: October 31, 2006

Astronomers are closing in on the proof they've sought for years that one of the most destructive objects in the universe—a supermassive black hole—lurks at the center of our own galaxy. Could it flare up and consume our entire galactic neighborhood? Join NOVA on a mind-bending investigation into one of the most bizarre corners of cosmological science: black hole research. From event horizon to singularity, the elusive secrets of supermassive black holes are revealed through stunning computer-generated imagery, including an extraordinary simulation of what it might look like to fall into the belly of such an all-devouring beast.


Program Transcript
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Black hole

Supermassive black holes, like the one hidden by a girdle of dust in this artist's impression, have the mass of up to a billion suns. They may lie at the heart of most, if not all, large galaxies.

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© | Created September 2006