{ "id": 14576, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "NASA Black Hole Visualization Takes Viewers Beyond the Brink", "description": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || 14576_BHPlunge_Explain_Still.jpg (3840x2160) [1.2 MB] || 14576_PageThumbnail.jpg (3840x2160) [1.2 MB] || 14576_PageThumbnail_searchweb.png (180x320) [85.0 KB] || 14576_PageThumbnail_thm.png (80x40) [9.6 KB] || 14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [319.5 MB] || 14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_Captions.en_US.srt [2.5 KB] || 14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_Captions.en_US.vtt [2.4 KB] || 14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_4k.mp4 (3840x2160) [1.5 GB] || 14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_4kYouTube.mp4 (3840x2160) [3.0 GB] || 14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_ProRes_3840x2160_2997.mov (3840x2160) [12.8 GB] || ", "release_date": "2024-05-06T13:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-12-01T17:34:33.372012-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 1091869, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_PageThumbnail_searchweb.png", "filename": "14576_PageThumbnail_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 }, "main_video": null, "main_credits": { "Produced by": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "eMITS" } ], "Written by": [ { "name": "Francis Reddy", "employer": "University of Maryland College Park" } ], "Visualizations by": [ { "name": "Jeremy Schnittman", "employer": "NASA/GSFC" } ] }, "progress": "Complete", "media_groups": [ { "id": 374099, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374099", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell

Music: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music

“Memories” from Digital Juice

“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production Music

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Complete transcript available.

", "items": [ { "id": 426706, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091859, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_Explain_Still.jpg", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_Explain_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 426709, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091868, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_PageThumbnail.jpg", "filename": "14576_PageThumbnail.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 426710, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091869, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_PageThumbnail_searchweb.png", "filename": "14576_PageThumbnail_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 426711, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091870, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_PageThumbnail_thm.png", "filename": "14576_PageThumbnail_thm.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 80, "height": 40, "pixels": 3200 } }, { "id": 426749, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091892, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_1080.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_1080.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 426707, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091860, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_Captions.en_US.srt", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_Captions.en_US.srt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "label": "English", "language_code": "en-US" } }, { "id": 426708, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091861, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_Captions.en_US.vtt", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_Captions.en_US.vtt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "label": "English", "language_code": "en-US" } }, { "id": 426747, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091890, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_4k.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_4k.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 426748, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091891, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_4kYouTube.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_4kYouTube.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 426799, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091942, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_ProRes_3840x2160_2997.mov", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_Explainer_ProRes_3840x2160_2997.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon — the point of no return — of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music“Memories” from Digital Juice“Path Finder,” Eric Jacobsen [TONO] and Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374109, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374109", "widget": "Basic text with HTML", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "New, immersive visualizations produced on a NASA supercomputer let anyone take a trip into a black hole’s point of no return.

The visualizations represent two scenarios, one where a camera — a stand-in for a daring astronaut — just misses the event horizon and slingshots back out, and another where the camera enters the event horizon, sealing its fate.

The visualizations are available in multiple forms, including 360-degree videos that let viewers look all around during the trip. Explainer videos act as sightseeing guides, highlighting the bizarre effects of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Additional versions are rendered as flat all-sky maps.

Goddard scientists created the visualizations on the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation.

The destination is a supermassive black hole with 4.3 million times the mass of our Sun, equivalent to the monster located at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. To simplify the complex calculations, the black hole is not rotating.

A flat, swirling cloud of hot, glowing gas called an accretion disk surrounds the black hole and serves as a visual reference during the fall. So do glowing structures called photon rings, which form closer to the black hole from light that has orbited it one or more times. A backdrop of the starry sky as seen from Earth completes the scene.

The project generated about 10 terabytes of data — equivalent to roughly half of the estimated text content in the Library of Congress — and took about 5 days running on just 0.3% of Discover’s 129,000 processors. The same feat would take more than a decade on a typical laptop.

Movies and frame sets are available below. For more detailed information using specific frames, see Beyond the Brink: Tracking a Simulated Plunge into a Black Hole. Some numbers to think about:", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374100, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374100", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Labeled version of the rectangular view that includes an explanation of visual features. This image 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 10 million miles (16 million kilometers) from the black hole’s event horizon and is moving inward at 62% the speed of light.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "items": [ { "id": 502748, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1159900, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/labels_4_BH_Viz_45rg_062c.jpg", "filename": "labels_4_BH_Viz_45rg_062c.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Labeled version of the rectangular view that includes an explanation of visual features. This image 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 10 million miles (16 million kilometers) from the black hole’s event horizon and is moving inward at 62% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 2393, "height": 1197, "pixels": 2864421 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374101, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374101", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell

Music: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production Music

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Complete transcript available.

", "items": [ { "id": 502755, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091858, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_360_Still.jpg", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_360_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502756, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091878, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_360_FINAL_1080.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_360_FINAL_1080.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 2160, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2332800 } }, { "id": 502752, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091856, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_360_Captions.en_US.srt", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_360_Captions.en_US.srt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "label": "English", "language_code": "en-US" } }, { "id": 502754, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091857, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_360_Captions.en_US.vtt", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_360_Captions.en_US.vtt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "label": "English", "language_code": "en-US" } }, { "id": 502758, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091879, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_360_FINAL_4k.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_360_FINAL_4k.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 4096, "height": 2048, "pixels": 8388608 } }, { "id": 502760, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091880, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHPlunge_360_FINAL_8k.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHPlunge_360_FINAL_8k.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: “Tidal Force,” Thomas Daniel Bellingham [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374102, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374102", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Camera plunge, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "items": [ { "id": 502762, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091833, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/Plunge_Rectilinear_Still_03528.jpg", "filename": "Plunge_Rectilinear_Still_03528.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502767, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091837, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Rectilinear_2160x1080_30.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Rectilinear_2160x1080_30.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 2160, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2332800 } }, { "id": 502763, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091834, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/frames/8192x4096_2x1_60p/Plunge_Rect/", "filename": "Plunge_Rect", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502765, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091836, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Rectilinear_4096x2048_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Rectilinear_4096x2048_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 4096, "height": 2048, "pixels": 8388608 } }, { "id": 502764, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091835, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Rectilinear_8192x4096_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Rectilinear_8192x4096_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502768, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091838, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Rectilinear_ProRes_8192x4096_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Rectilinear_ProRes_8192x4096_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374103, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374103", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Camera plunge, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "items": [ { "id": 502770, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091839, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/Plunge_Mollweide_Still_02190.jpg", "filename": "Plunge_Mollweide_Still_02190.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502773, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091842, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Mollweide_2160x1080_30.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Mollweide_2160x1080_30.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 2160, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2332800 } }, { "id": 502772, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091841, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/frames/8192x4096_2x1_60p/Plunge_Moll/", "filename": "Plunge_Moll", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502774, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091843, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Mollweide_4096x2048_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Mollweide_4096x2048_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 4096, "height": 2048, "pixels": 8388608 } }, { "id": 502771, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091840, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Mollweide_8192x4096_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Mollweide_8192x4096_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502776, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091844, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Mollweide_ProRes_8192x4096_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Mollweide_ProRes_8192x4096_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera plunge, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the plunge of a simulated camera into a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes almost two orbits before hitting the event horizon. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 42 seconds, the camera crosses the event horizon, traveling ever closer to the speed of light. Due to the camera’s speed, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, shrinking before our eyes. After entering the event horizon, the camera would be destroyed by tidal forces 12.8 seconds later, then in microseconds rush to the singularity, a point in the black hole's center where the laws of physics as we know them no longer apply.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374104, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374104", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "This sequence shows a zoom into the plunging camera’s direction of travel to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. Due to the camera’s speed, which approaches 99.9% that of light toward the end, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, seemingly shrinking before our eyes. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell

", "items": [ { "id": 502779, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091845, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/Plunge_Zoom_Still_03607.jpg", "filename": "Plunge_Zoom_Still_03607.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the plunging camera’s direction of travel to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. Due to the camera’s speed, which approaches 99.9% that of light toward the end, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, seemingly shrinking before our eyes. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502780, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091846, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/frames/3840x2160_16x9_60p/Plunge_Zoom/", "filename": "Plunge_Zoom", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the plunging camera’s direction of travel to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. Due to the camera’s speed, which approaches 99.9% that of light toward the end, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, seemingly shrinking before our eyes. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502782, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091887, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Zoom2b_1080.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Zoom2b_1080.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the plunging camera’s direction of travel to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. Due to the camera’s speed, which approaches 99.9% that of light toward the end, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, seemingly shrinking before our eyes. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502783, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091888, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Zoom2b_4k60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Zoom2b_4k60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the plunging camera’s direction of travel to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. Due to the camera’s speed, which approaches 99.9% that of light toward the end, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, seemingly shrinking before our eyes. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502784, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091889, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Zoom2b_ProRes_3840x2160_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Zoom2b_ProRes_3840x2160_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the plunging camera’s direction of travel to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. Due to the camera’s speed, which approaches 99.9% that of light toward the end, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, seemingly shrinking before our eyes. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502781, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091847, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Zoom_ProRes_3840x2160_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Zoom_ProRes_3840x2160_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the plunging camera’s direction of travel to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. Due to the camera’s speed, which approaches 99.9% that of light toward the end, the entire sky appears to shift progressively forward, seemingly shrinking before our eyes. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374105, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374105", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Plunge camera track. This movie tracks the position and orientation of the falling camera relative to the black hole. The inner circle represents the event horizon, the dashed circle represents the photon ring, which forms at the edge of the event horizon's shadow (twice the event horizon's size), and the dotted line shows the camera's path. A red line represents the plane of the accretion disk surrounding the black hole. At about 15 seconds, the image zooms in to follow the camera as it makes almost two loops around the black hole. At 42 seconds, the camera slips past the event horizon and arcs to the black hole's center.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman

Visual description: On a black background, a white cartoon camera approaches a broken red line interrupted by a large dashed white circle at its center. Inside the dashed circle is a smaller white circle with a solid line. The camera, trailing a dotted line as it travels, spirals into the central white circle.", "items": [ { "id": 502785, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091848, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/Plunge_Inset_Still_03170.jpg", "filename": "Plunge_Inset_Still_03170.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Plunge camera track. This movie tracks the position and orientation of the falling camera relative to the black hole. The inner circle represents the event horizon, the dashed circle represents the photon ring, which forms at the edge of the event horizon's shadow (twice the event horizon's size), and the dotted line shows the camera's path. A red line represents the plane of the accretion disk surrounding the black hole. At about 15 seconds, the image zooms in to follow the camera as it makes almost two loops around the black hole. At 42 seconds, the camera slips past the event horizon and arcs to the black hole's center.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: On a black background, a white cartoon camera approaches a broken red line interrupted by a large dashed white circle at its center. Inside the dashed circle is a smaller white circle with a solid line. The camera, trailing a dotted line as it travels, spirals into the central white circle.", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502786, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091849, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/frames/900x480_1.88x1_60p/Plunge_Camera/", "filename": "Plunge_Camera", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "Plunge camera track. This movie tracks the position and orientation of the falling camera relative to the black hole. The inner circle represents the event horizon, the dashed circle represents the photon ring, which forms at the edge of the event horizon's shadow (twice the event horizon's size), and the dotted line shows the camera's path. A red line represents the plane of the accretion disk surrounding the black hole. At about 15 seconds, the image zooms in to follow the camera as it makes almost two loops around the black hole. At 42 seconds, the camera slips past the event horizon and arcs to the black hole's center.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: On a black background, a white cartoon camera approaches a broken red line interrupted by a large dashed white circle at its center. Inside the dashed circle is a smaller white circle with a solid line. The camera, trailing a dotted line as it travels, spirals into the central white circle.", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502787, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091850, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Inset_900x480_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Inset_900x480_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Plunge camera track. This movie tracks the position and orientation of the falling camera relative to the black hole. The inner circle represents the event horizon, the dashed circle represents the photon ring, which forms at the edge of the event horizon's shadow (twice the event horizon's size), and the dotted line shows the camera's path. A red line represents the plane of the accretion disk surrounding the black hole. At about 15 seconds, the image zooms in to follow the camera as it makes almost two loops around the black hole. At 42 seconds, the camera slips past the event horizon and arcs to the black hole's center.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: On a black background, a white cartoon camera approaches a broken red line interrupted by a large dashed white circle at its center. Inside the dashed circle is a smaller white circle with a solid line. The camera, trailing a dotted line as it travels, spirals into the central white circle.", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502788, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091851, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Inset_ProRes_900x480_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Inset_ProRes_900x480_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Plunge camera track. This movie tracks the position and orientation of the falling camera relative to the black hole. The inner circle represents the event horizon, the dashed circle represents the photon ring, which forms at the edge of the event horizon's shadow (twice the event horizon's size), and the dotted line shows the camera's path. A red line represents the plane of the accretion disk surrounding the black hole. At about 15 seconds, the image zooms in to follow the camera as it makes almost two loops around the black hole. At 42 seconds, the camera slips past the event horizon and arcs to the black hole's center.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: On a black background, a white cartoon camera approaches a broken red line interrupted by a large dashed white circle at its center. Inside the dashed circle is a smaller white circle with a solid line. The camera, trailing a dotted line as it travels, spirals into the central white circle.", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374106, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374106", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Plunge clock comparison. This movie tracks the local time of the falling camera, the time as experienced by a faraway observer (coordinate time), and the maximum blueshift observed. This is the factor by which the frequency of light in the direction of travel is increased. At 42 seconds, coordinate time reads all 9s, indicating that the camera has crossed the event horizon and external time is infinite. The blueshift continues to climb, exceeding 43 by the end, which indicates motion exceeding 99.9% light speed.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman

Visual description: A box on a white background contains three lines of text. The top line reads \"local time,\" the second line reads \"coord time,\" and the third reads \"max blueshift.\" As the video plays, these times increase and diverge as described above. ", "items": [ { "id": 502789, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091852, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/Plunge_Times_Still_03900.jpg", "filename": "Plunge_Times_Still_03900.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Plunge clock comparison. This movie tracks the local time of the falling camera, the time as experienced by a faraway observer (coordinate time), and the maximum blueshift observed. This is the factor by which the frequency of light in the direction of travel is increased. At 42 seconds, coordinate time reads all 9s, indicating that the camera has crossed the event horizon and external time is infinite. The blueshift continues to climb, exceeding 43 by the end, which indicates motion exceeding 99.9% light speed.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: A box on a white background contains three lines of text. The top line reads \"local time,\" the second line reads \"coord time,\" and the third reads \"max blueshift.\" As the video plays, these times increase and diverge as described above. ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502790, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091853, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Times_900x480_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Times_900x480_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Plunge clock comparison. This movie tracks the local time of the falling camera, the time as experienced by a faraway observer (coordinate time), and the maximum blueshift observed. This is the factor by which the frequency of light in the direction of travel is increased. At 42 seconds, coordinate time reads all 9s, indicating that the camera has crossed the event horizon and external time is infinite. The blueshift continues to climb, exceeding 43 by the end, which indicates motion exceeding 99.9% light speed.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: A box on a white background contains three lines of text. The top line reads \"local time,\" the second line reads \"coord time,\" and the third reads \"max blueshift.\" As the video plays, these times increase and diverge as described above. ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502791, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091854, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/frames/900x480_1.88x1_60p/Plunge_Times/", "filename": "Plunge_Times", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "Plunge clock comparison. This movie tracks the local time of the falling camera, the time as experienced by a faraway observer (coordinate time), and the maximum blueshift observed. This is the factor by which the frequency of light in the direction of travel is increased. At 42 seconds, coordinate time reads all 9s, indicating that the camera has crossed the event horizon and external time is infinite. The blueshift continues to climb, exceeding 43 by the end, which indicates motion exceeding 99.9% light speed.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: A box on a white background contains three lines of text. The top line reads \"local time,\" the second line reads \"coord time,\" and the third reads \"max blueshift.\" As the video plays, these times increase and diverge as described above. ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502792, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091855, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_Plunge_Times_ProRes_900x480_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_Plunge_Times_ProRes_900x480_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Plunge clock comparison. This movie tracks the local time of the falling camera, the time as experienced by a faraway observer (coordinate time), and the maximum blueshift observed. This is the factor by which the frequency of light in the direction of travel is increased. At 42 seconds, coordinate time reads all 9s, indicating that the camera has crossed the event horizon and external time is infinite. The blueshift continues to climb, exceeding 43 by the end, which indicates motion exceeding 99.9% light speed.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: A box on a white background contains three lines of text. The top line reads \"local time,\" the second line reads \"coord time,\" and the third reads \"max blueshift.\" As the video plays, these times increase and diverge as described above. ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374107, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374107", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, falls toward, briefly orbits, and escapes a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell

Music: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production Music

“Awakening Yearning,” David Ashok Ramani and Jonathan Elias [ASCAP], Universal Production Music

“Dawning,” Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production Music

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Complete transcript available.

", "items": [ { "id": 502793, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091865, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_Explain_Still.jpg", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_Explain_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, falls toward, briefly orbits, and escapes a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production Music“Awakening Yearning,” David Ashok Ramani and Jonathan Elias [ASCAP], Universal Production Music“Dawning,” Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502796, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091874, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_1080.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_1080.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, falls toward, briefly orbits, and escapes a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production Music“Awakening Yearning,” David Ashok Ramani and Jonathan Elias [ASCAP], Universal Production Music“Dawning,” Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 502794, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091866, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_Captions.en_US.srt", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_Captions.en_US.srt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, falls toward, briefly orbits, and escapes a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production Music“Awakening Yearning,” David Ashok Ramani and Jonathan Elias [ASCAP], Universal Production Music“Dawning,” Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "label": "English", "language_code": "en-US" } }, { "id": 502795, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091867, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_Captions.en_US.vtt", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_Captions.en_US.vtt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, falls toward, briefly orbits, and escapes a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production Music“Awakening Yearning,” David Ashok Ramani and Jonathan Elias [ASCAP], Universal Production Music“Dawning,” Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "label": "English", "language_code": "en-US" } }, { "id": 502797, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091875, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_4k.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_4k.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, falls toward, briefly orbits, and escapes a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production Music“Awakening Yearning,” David Ashok Ramani and Jonathan Elias [ASCAP], Universal Production Music“Dawning,” Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502798, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091876, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_4kYouTube.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_4kYouTube.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, falls toward, briefly orbits, and escapes a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production Music“Awakening Yearning,” David Ashok Ramani and Jonathan Elias [ASCAP], Universal Production Music“Dawning,” Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502799, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091877, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_ProRes_3840x2160_2997.mov", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_Explainer_ProRes_3840x2160_2997.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "In this flight toward a supermassive black hole, labels highlight many of the fascinating features produced by the effects of general relativity along the way. This supercomputer visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, falls toward, briefly orbits, and escapes a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our galaxy. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production Music“Awakening Yearning,” David Ashok Ramani and Jonathan Elias [ASCAP], Universal Production Music“Dawning,” Lorenzo Castellarin [BMI], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374108, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374108", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and looping around a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell

Music: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production Music

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Complete transcript available.

", "items": [ { "id": 502802, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091864, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_360_Still.jpg", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_360_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and looping around a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502803, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091871, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_360_FINAL_1080.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_360_FINAL_1080.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and looping around a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 2160, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2332800 } }, { "id": 502808, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091895, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_360VR_FINAL_1080.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_360VR_FINAL_1080.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and looping around a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 2160, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2332800 } }, { "id": 502800, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091862, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_360_Captions.en_US.srt", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_360_Captions.en_US.srt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and looping around a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "label": "English", "language_code": "en-US" } }, { "id": 502801, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091863, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_360_Captions.en_US.vtt", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_360_Captions.en_US.vtt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and looping around a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "label": "English", "language_code": "en-US" } }, { "id": 502804, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091872, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_360_FINAL_4k.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_360_FINAL_4k.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and looping around a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 4096, "height": 2048, "pixels": 8388608 } }, { "id": 502807, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091894, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_360VR_FINAL_4k.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_360VR_FINAL_4k.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and looping around a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 4096, "height": 2048, "pixels": 8388608 } }, { "id": 502805, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091873, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_360_FINAL_8k.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_360_FINAL_8k.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and looping around a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502806, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091893, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BHFlyBy_360VR_FINAL_8k.mp4", "filename": "14576_BHFlyBy_360VR_FINAL_8k.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This version is encoded to play as a 360 VR movie. It follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and looping around a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. PowellMusic: \"Beautiful Awesome,” David Husband and James William Banbury [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374110, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374110", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Camera flyby, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "items": [ { "id": 502809, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091809, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/FlyBy_Rectilinear_01787.jpg", "filename": "FlyBy_Rectilinear_01787.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502811, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091811, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Rectilinear_2160x1080_30.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Rectilinear_2160x1080_30.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 2160, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2332800 } }, { "id": 502810, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091810, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/frames/8192x4096_2x1_60p/FlyBy_Rect/", "filename": "FlyBy_Rect", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502812, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091812, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Rectilinear_4096x2048_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Rectilinear_4096x2048_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 4096, "height": 2048, "pixels": 8388608 } }, { "id": 502813, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091813, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Rectilinear_8192x4096_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Rectilinear_8192x4096_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502814, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091814, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Rectilinear_ProRes_8192x4096_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Rectilinear_ProRes_8192x4096_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, equidistant rectangular projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374111, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374111", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Camera flyby, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "items": [ { "id": 502742, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091815, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/FlyBy_Mollweide_Still_01830.jpg", "filename": "FlyBy_Mollweide_Still_01830.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502746, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091819, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/frames/8192x4096_2x1_60p/FlyBy_Moll/", "filename": "FlyBy_Moll", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502744, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091817, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Mollweide_4096x2048_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Mollweide_4096x2048_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 4096, "height": 2048, "pixels": 8388608 } }, { "id": 502745, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091818, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Mollweide_8192x4096_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Mollweide_8192x4096_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } }, { "id": 502743, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091816, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Mollweide_ProRes_8192x4096_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Mollweide_ProRes_8192x4096_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Camera flyby, Mollweide equal-area projection. This all-sky movie follows the trajectory of a simulated camera approaching and orbiting a non-rotating supermassive black hole. The object's mass is 4.3 million Suns, equivalent to the black hole lying at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The orange structure surrounding the black hole represents the hot, glowing gas of its accretion disk, where infalling matter collects and slowly spirals inward. Interior to the disk is a thin set of photon rings, which are images of the disk produced by light that has orbited the black hole one or more times before reaching the camera. The camera completes two orbits before escaping back out to safety. During the journey, a variety of effects caused by the gravitationally warped space-time around the black hole and the camera's speed become increasingly apparent. Images of the disk and the background sky morph, duplicate, and even form mirror images. Structures in the direction of travel, at the center of the simulation, brighten greatly as speed increases. At 46 seconds, the camera makes its closest approach to the event horizon, reaching maximum velocity at 60% the speed of light. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 8192, "height": 4096, "pixels": 33554432 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374112, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374112", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "This sequence shows a zoom into the camera’s direction of travel as it loops around the black hole to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell

", "items": [ { "id": 502747, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091820, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/FlyBy_Zoom_Still_01650.jpg", "filename": "FlyBy_Zoom_Still_01650.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the camera’s direction of travel as it loops around the black hole to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502750, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091822, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Zoom2_1920x1080_30.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Zoom2_1920x1080_30.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the camera’s direction of travel as it loops around the black hole to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 502749, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091821, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/frames/3840x2160_16x9_60p/FlyBy_Zoom/", "filename": "FlyBy_Zoom", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the camera’s direction of travel as it loops around the black hole to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502751, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091823, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Zoom2_3840x2160_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Zoom2_3840x2160_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the camera’s direction of travel as it loops around the black hole to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 502753, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091824, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Zoom2_ProRes_3840x2160_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Zoom2_ProRes_3840x2160_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This sequence shows a zoom into the camera’s direction of travel as it loops around the black hole to reveal the detailed structure of the photon rings. Each band is a distorted image of the gas disk layered between the background sky. Successive bands are thinner, produced by photons that have taken an additional trip around the black hole before reaching the camera. The field of view is 10 degrees across, about the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374113, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374113", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Flyby camera track. This movie tracks the position and orientation of the falling camera relative to the black hole. The inner circle represents the event horizon, the dashed circle represents the photon ring, which forms at the edge of the event horizon's shadow (twice the event horizon's size), and At about 15 seconds, the image zooms in to follow the camera as it makes two loops around the black hole. At 46 seconds, the image zooms out as the camera escapes.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman

Visual description: On a black background, a white cartoon camera approaches a broken red line interrupted by a large dashed white circle at its center. Inside the dashed circle is a smaller white circle with a solid line. The camera, trailing a dotted line as it travels, loops twice around the dashed circle. ", "items": [ { "id": 502757, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091825, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/FlyBy_Inset_Still_03126.jpg", "filename": "FlyBy_Inset_Still_03126.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Flyby camera track. This movie tracks the position and orientation of the falling camera relative to the black hole. The inner circle represents the event horizon, the dashed circle represents the photon ring, which forms at the edge of the event horizon's shadow (twice the event horizon's size), and At about 15 seconds, the image zooms in to follow the camera as it makes two loops around the black hole. At 46 seconds, the image zooms out as the camera escapes. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: On a black background, a white cartoon camera approaches a broken red line interrupted by a large dashed white circle at its center. Inside the dashed circle is a smaller white circle with a solid line. The camera, trailing a dotted line as it travels, loops twice around the dashed circle. ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502761, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091827, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Inset_900x480_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Inset_900x480_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Flyby camera track. This movie tracks the position and orientation of the falling camera relative to the black hole. The inner circle represents the event horizon, the dashed circle represents the photon ring, which forms at the edge of the event horizon's shadow (twice the event horizon's size), and At about 15 seconds, the image zooms in to follow the camera as it makes two loops around the black hole. At 46 seconds, the image zooms out as the camera escapes. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: On a black background, a white cartoon camera approaches a broken red line interrupted by a large dashed white circle at its center. Inside the dashed circle is a smaller white circle with a solid line. The camera, trailing a dotted line as it travels, loops twice around the dashed circle. ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502766, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091828, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/frames/900x480_1.88x1_60p/FlyBy_Camera/", "filename": "FlyBy_Camera", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "Flyby camera track. This movie tracks the position and orientation of the falling camera relative to the black hole. The inner circle represents the event horizon, the dashed circle represents the photon ring, which forms at the edge of the event horizon's shadow (twice the event horizon's size), and At about 15 seconds, the image zooms in to follow the camera as it makes two loops around the black hole. At 46 seconds, the image zooms out as the camera escapes. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: On a black background, a white cartoon camera approaches a broken red line interrupted by a large dashed white circle at its center. Inside the dashed circle is a smaller white circle with a solid line. The camera, trailing a dotted line as it travels, loops twice around the dashed circle. ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502759, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091826, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Inset_ProRes_900x480_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Inset_ProRes_900x480_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Flyby camera track. This movie tracks the position and orientation of the falling camera relative to the black hole. The inner circle represents the event horizon, the dashed circle represents the photon ring, which forms at the edge of the event horizon's shadow (twice the event horizon's size), and At about 15 seconds, the image zooms in to follow the camera as it makes two loops around the black hole. At 46 seconds, the image zooms out as the camera escapes. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: On a black background, a white cartoon camera approaches a broken red line interrupted by a large dashed white circle at its center. Inside the dashed circle is a smaller white circle with a solid line. The camera, trailing a dotted line as it travels, loops twice around the dashed circle. ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 379203, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_379203", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Flyby clock comparison. This movie tracks the local time of the falling camera, the time as experienced by a faraway observer (coordinate time), and the maximum blueshift observed. This is the factor by which the frequency of light in the direction of travel is increased. As the video plays, these times increase and diverge, and by the end, local time lags coordinate time by 36 minutes. At 46 seconds, the blueshift reaches 2.34 as the camera's motion peaks at 60% the speed of light.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman

Visual description: A box on a white background contains three lines of text. The top line reads \"local time,\" the second line reads \"coord time,\" and the third reads \"max blueshift.\" ", "items": [ { "id": 502769, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091829, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/FlyBy_Times_Still_04360.jpg", "filename": "FlyBy_Times_Still_04360.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Flyby clock comparison. This movie tracks the local time of the falling camera, the time as experienced by a faraway observer (coordinate time), and the maximum blueshift observed. This is the factor by which the frequency of light in the direction of travel is increased. As the video plays, these times increase and diverge, and by the end, local time lags coordinate time by 36 minutes. At 46 seconds, the blueshift reaches 2.34 as the camera's motion peaks at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: A box on a white background contains three lines of text. The top line reads \"local time,\" the second line reads \"coord time,\" and the third reads \"max blueshift.\" ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502775, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091830, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/frames/900x480_1.88x1_60p/FlyBy_Times/", "filename": "FlyBy_Times", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "Flyby clock comparison. This movie tracks the local time of the falling camera, the time as experienced by a faraway observer (coordinate time), and the maximum blueshift observed. This is the factor by which the frequency of light in the direction of travel is increased. As the video plays, these times increase and diverge, and by the end, local time lags coordinate time by 36 minutes. At 46 seconds, the blueshift reaches 2.34 as the camera's motion peaks at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: A box on a white background contains three lines of text. The top line reads \"local time,\" the second line reads \"coord time,\" and the third reads \"max blueshift.\" ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502778, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091832, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Timess_900x480_60.mp4", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Timess_900x480_60.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Flyby clock comparison. This movie tracks the local time of the falling camera, the time as experienced by a faraway observer (coordinate time), and the maximum blueshift observed. This is the factor by which the frequency of light in the direction of travel is increased. As the video plays, these times increase and diverge, and by the end, local time lags coordinate time by 36 minutes. At 46 seconds, the blueshift reaches 2.34 as the camera's motion peaks at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: A box on a white background contains three lines of text. The top line reads \"local time,\" the second line reads \"coord time,\" and the third reads \"max blueshift.\" ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 502777, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1091831, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014576/14576_BH_FlyBy_Times_ProRes_900x480_60.mov", "filename": "14576_BH_FlyBy_Times_ProRes_900x480_60.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Flyby clock comparison. This movie tracks the local time of the falling camera, the time as experienced by a faraway observer (coordinate time), and the maximum blueshift observed. This is the factor by which the frequency of light in the direction of travel is increased. As the video plays, these times increase and diverge, and by the end, local time lags coordinate time by 36 minutes. At 46 seconds, the blueshift reaches 2.34 as the camera's motion peaks at 60% the speed of light.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. SchnittmanVisual description: A box on a white background contains three lines of text. The top line reads \"local time,\" the second line reads \"coord time,\" and the third reads \"max blueshift.\" ", "width": 900, "height": 480, "pixels": 432000 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 374118, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14576/#media_group_374118", "widget": "Basic text", "title": "For More Information", "caption": "", "description": "See [NASA.gov](https://science.nasa.gov/supermassive-black-holes/new-nasa-black-hole-visualization-takes-viewers-beyond-the-brink/)", "items": [], "extra_data": {} } ], "studio": "gms", "funding_sources": [ "NASA Astrophysics" ], "credits": [ { "role": "Producer", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "eMITS" } ] }, { "role": "Science writer", "people": [ { "name": "Francis Reddy", "employer": "University of Maryland College Park" } ] }, { "role": "Visualizer", "people": [ { "name": "Jeremy Schnittman", "employer": "NASA/GSFC" } ] }, { "role": "Support", "people": [ { "name": "Brian Powell", "employer": "NASA/GSFC" }, { "name": "Ernie Wright", "employer": "USRA" } ] } ], "missions": [], "series": [ "Astrophysics Features", "Astrophysics Simulations", "Astrophysics Visualizations", "Black Hole Week", "Narrated Movies" ], "tapes": [], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Universe" ], "keywords": [ "Ast", "Astrophysics", "Black Hole", "Simulation", "Space", "Supercomputer", "Supermassive Black Hole", "Visualization" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 14818, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14818/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Plunge: Behind the Scenes Creating NASA's Black Hole Visualization", "description": "Behind the scenes video about the Black Hole visualization from 2024", "release_date": "2025-09-26T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-09-08T12:34:43.919742-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1157744, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014800/a014818/BTS intro V3 for THUMBNAIL2.jpg", "filename": "BTS intro V3 for THUMBNAIL2.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 14585, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14585/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Beyond the Brink: Tracking a Simulated Plunge into a Black Hole", "description": "In this all-sky view, the camera approaches a supermassive black hole weighing 4.3 million Suns. It is about 70 million miles (113 million kilometers) from the black hole’s event horizon, the boundary of no return. It’s moving inward at 19% the speed of light — nearly 127 million mph (205 million kph). A flat, swirling cloud of hot, glowing gas called an accretion disk surrounds the black hole and serves as a visual reference during the fall, as do glowing structures called photon rings, which form closer to the black hole from light that has orbited it one or more times. A backdrop of the starry sky completes the scene.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell || 1_BH_Viz_20_rg_019c.jpg (8192x4096) [6.1 MB] || ", "release_date": "2024-05-06T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-05-08T14:04:55.106961-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1092002, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014585/7_BH_Viz_012rg_0992c_print.jpg", "filename": "7_BH_Viz_012rg_0992c_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This detail shows a view 10 degrees across — about the width of a fist at arm’s length — in the direction of travel at 99.2% the speed of light (665 million mph, 1.07 billion kph) relative to the background stars. Much of the sky fits within this small view. The camera is 7 million miles (12 million kilometers below the event horizon.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Schnittman and B. Powell", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 13831, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13831/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA Visualization Probes the Doubly Warped World of Binary Black Holes", "description": "Explore how the extreme gravity of two orbiting supermassive black holes distorts our view. In this visualization, disks of bright, hot, churning gas encircle both black holes, shown in red and blue to better track the light source. The red disk orbits the larger black hole, which weighs 200 million times the mass of our Sun, while its smaller blue companion weighs half as much. Zooming into each black hole reveals multiple, increasingly warped images of its partner. Watch to learn more. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman and Brian P. PowellMusic: \"Gravitational Field\" from Orbit. Written and produced by Lars Leonhard.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || Supermassive_BlackHole_Binary_Still.jpg (3840x2160) [726.7 KB] || Supermassive_BlackHole_Binary_Still_searchweb.png (320x180) [18.9 KB] || Supermassive_BlackHole_Binary_Still_thm.png (80x40) [2.5 KB] || 13831_BlackHoleBinary_Simulation_1080.webm (1920x1080) [23.8 MB] || 13831_BlackHoleBinary_Simulation_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [234.7 MB] || 13831_BlackHoleBinary_Simulation_4k.mp4 (3840x2160) [348.3 MB] || 13831_BlackHoleBinary_Simulation_4k_Best.mp4 (3840x2160) [936.6 MB] || 13831_BlackHoleBinary_Simulation_ProRes_3840x2160_30.mov (3840x2160) [4.1 GB] || 13831_BlackHoleBinary_Simulation_4k_Best.mp4.hwshow [137 bytes] || ", "release_date": "2021-04-15T13:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-06-06T05:28:16.115955-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 379138, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013800/a013831/Supermassive_BlackHole_Binary_Still_searchweb.png", "filename": "Supermassive_BlackHole_Binary_Still_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Explore how the extreme gravity of two orbiting supermassive black holes distorts our view. In this visualization, disks of bright, hot, churning gas encircle both black holes, shown in red and blue to better track the light source. The red disk orbits the larger black hole, which weighs 200 million times the mass of our Sun, while its smaller blue companion weighs half as much. Zooming into each black hole reveals multiple, increasingly warped images of its partner. Watch to learn more. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman and Brian P. PowellMusic: \"Gravitational Field\" from Orbit. Written and produced by Lars Leonhard.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 13326, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13326/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Black Hole Accretion Disk Visualization", "description": "This movie shows a complete revolution around a simulated black hole and its accretion disk following a path that is perpendicular to the disk. The black hole’s extreme gravitational field redirects and distorts light coming from different parts of the disk, but exactly what we see depends on our viewing angle. The greatest distortion occurs when viewing the system nearly edgewise. As our viewpoint rotates around the black hole, we see different parts of the fast-moving gas in the accretion disk moving directly toward us. Due to a phenomenon called \"relativistic Doppler beaming,\" gas in the disk that's moving toward us makes that side of the disk appear brighter, the opposite side darker. This effect disappears when we're directly above or below the disk because, from that angle, none of the gas is moving directly toward us.When our viewpoint passes beneath the disk, it looks like the gas is moving in the opposite direction. This is no different that viewing a clock from behind, which would make it look like the hands are moving counter-clockwise.CORRECTION: In earlier versions of the 360-degree movies on this page, these important effects were not apparent. This was due to a minor mistake in orienting the camera relative to the disk. The fact that it was not initially discovered by the NASA scientist who made the movie reflects just how bizarre and counter-intuitive black holes can be! Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman || BH_Accretion_Disk_Sim_360_4k_Prores.00001_print.jpg (1024x1024) [33.2 KB] || BH_Accretion_Disk_Sim_360_4k_Prores.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [17.0 KB] || BH_Accretion_Disk_Sim_360_4k_Prores.00001_thm.png (80x40) [1.9 KB] || BH_Accretion_Disk_Sim_360_1080.mp4 (1080x1080) [19.0 MB] || BH_Accretion_Disk_Sim_360_1080.webm (1080x1080) [2.8 MB] || 360 (3840x3840) [0 Item(s)] || BH_Accretion_Disk_Sim_360_4k.mp4 (3840x3840) [119.2 MB] || BH_Accretion_Disk_Sim_360_4k_Prores.mov (3840x3840) [1020.1 MB] || ", "release_date": "2019-09-25T13:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-08-14T22:44:35.426607-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 392576, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013300/a013326/BH_Accretion_Disk_Sim_360_4k_Prores.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "BH_Accretion_Disk_Sim_360_4k_Prores.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie shows a complete revolution around a simulated black hole and its accretion disk following a path that is perpendicular to the disk. The black hole’s extreme gravitational field redirects and distorts light coming from different parts of the disk, but exactly what we see depends on our viewing angle. The greatest distortion occurs when viewing the system nearly edgewise. As our viewpoint rotates around the black hole, we see different parts of the fast-moving gas in the accretion disk moving directly toward us. Due to a phenomenon called \"relativistic Doppler beaming,\" gas in the disk that's moving toward us makes that side of the disk appear brighter, the opposite side darker. This effect disappears when we're directly above or below the disk because, from that angle, none of the gas is moving directly toward us.When our viewpoint passes beneath the disk, it looks like the gas is moving in the opposite direction. This is no different that viewing a clock from behind, which would make it look like the hands are moving counter-clockwise.CORRECTION: In earlier versions of the 360-degree movies on this page, these important effects were not apparent. This was due to a minor mistake in orienting the camera relative to the disk. The fact that it was not initially discovered by the NASA scientist who made the movie reflects just how bizarre and counter-intuitive black holes can be! Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman", "width": 1024, "height": 1024, "pixels": 1048576 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [ { "id": 14708, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14708/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Black Hole POV Visualizations for Hyperwall", "description": "Fly By Version || FlyBy_Exp [0 Item(s)] || FlyBy_EXPLAINER_FINAL_HYPERWALL.mp4 (3840x2160) [1.2 GB] || Plunge Version || Plunge_Exp [0 Item(s)] || Plunge_EXPLAINER_FINAL_HYPERWALL.mp4 (3840x2160) [1.3 GB] || Plunge_EXPLAINER_FINAL_HYPERWALL.mp4.hwshow [515 bytes] || ", "release_date": "2024-11-01T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-01-31T12:57:10.755247-05:00", "main_image": null } ] }