How does NASA detect black holes?
Black holes cannot be seen directly, but bright high-energy radiation in the ultraviolet and X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum is emitted by charged particles undergoing violent acceleration in the neighborhood of the black hole and this can be detected with special telescopes above the Earth’s atmosphere. SCIENTIST: Harrison Jones, NASA/GSFC, Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics QUESTION: Is it true that in their search for black holes, scientists look for massive X-ray emissions? If so, why? What is the nature of a black hole? I was always taught that the matter contained in a black hole would be so dense as to create a gravitational pull strong enough that not even light could escape. Wouldn’t that include X-ray “light”? What is the connection between X-radiation and black holes? Finally, if one were to point a camera at a black hole, what speculations exist as to what the resulting image would look like? Thanks; love the show. ANSWER: You are right that black hole
