1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 618 Shocking results! The first discovery of a black hole! A binary black hole system! Terrifying gamma-ray bursts!
Inside Cambridge University.

Li Qiwei's speech won applause from everyone present.

The leaders raised many interesting questions about the content of the speech.

Li Qiwei answered them one by one with ease.

Everyone sighed:

"After this day, the Big Bang theory has established its supreme position in astronomy."

"In the future, countless people will devote themselves to the study of the Big Bang."

After the questions were answered, the host, Eddington, walked onto the stage and said:
“Thank you Professor Bruce for the wonderful presentation.”

"Next, we will move on to the personal report session."

"First, please welcome Professor Schwarzschild."

Snapped!
Applause broke out in the venue!
Although Schwarzschild was German, he was not a radical.

His personal charm makes everyone like him.

Schwarzschild walked onto the stage and felt deeply moved when he saw so many astronomy giants gathered together below.

He did not attend the first plenary session, and today is the first time he has reported on such an occasion.

The long period of seclusion made him a little nervous.

He tried to speak calmly:

"Hello, everyone."

"The topic of my report today is black holes."

"If nothing unexpected happens, I should have discovered a real black hole."

hiss!
Schwarzschild's calm tone made everyone present uneasy.

"My God!"

"Professor Schwarzschild discovered a black hole?"

"real or fake?"

"This is incredible!"

“There really are black holes in the universe!”

At this moment, the venue became completely agitated.

Everyone looked excited and talked a lot.

Ever since Professor Bruce published the theory of general relativity and predicted the existence of black holes.

This incredible celestial body has always lingered in the minds of astronomers.

Astronomy is an all-encompassing field, and one of its specialized areas is the study of the properties of various celestial bodies in the universe.

There is no doubt that black holes are the most mysterious and fascinating of all celestial bodies.

At first, people didn't quite believe that black holes existed.

After all, even light can hardly escape its surface, so it is completely impossible to observe a black hole using optical means such as telescopes.

However, with the theory of stellar evolution proposed by Professor Bruce, the possibility of the existence of black holes was theoretically proved.

For a time, many people joined the process of searching for black holes.

And today, someone finally achieved this great feat!

Hubble and Eddington looked at each other in shock.

Then they were all happy for Big Brother Schwarzschild.

Although it sounds too incredible, the two believe that the other party is absolutely sure.

Otherwise it would not be made public on an occasion like today!

Even Li Qiwei couldn't help but be moved!
"The history of astronomy seems to be more easily changed!"

In real history, scientists did not discover the first black hole until 1964, which caused a sensation in the entire astronomical community.

And now, this result has been achieved much earlier than expected.

A smile appeared on Schwarzschild's lips.

He is very confident in his achievements.

The discovery of a black hole is definitely a major event that shocked the astronomical community!

Next, he will present his evidence.

"Everyone, please take a look."

"The black hole I discovered is located in the direction of the constellation Cygnus."

"According to the Federation's naming convention, I will name it Cygnus X-1."

"It is about 6000 light-years from Earth and has a mass 20 times that of the sun."

"."

Everyone listened attentively, but some young scholars also asked in a low voice:
"What constellation is Cygnus?"

"How come I've never heard of it?"

A senior explained:

“It’s normal that you young people haven’t heard of it.”

"The new constellation was only officially announced three months ago."

"This is the Federation's attempt to unify the division of celestial regions among countries around the world, and to precisely divide the entire sky into 88 constellations."

"When you publish papers in the future, you can no longer use your country's traditional constellations, but must use these standard constellations."

Everyone suddenly realized.

It turned out to be the case.

The word constellation appeared very early in both the East and the West.

Because ancient people, like people today, were curious about the starry sky above their heads.

Moreover, in ancient times, people mainly determined time and direction based on the brightness and position of stars.

So it was natural to start studying the relationship between the sky and the stars.

The purpose of constellations is to establish rules for dividing the chaotic stars.

For example, the twelve zodiac signs invented by ancient Babylon are the 12 constellations that we often hear in later generations, such as Leo, Aries, Sagittarius, etc.

Based on ancient Babylonian ideas, ancient Greece supplemented and developed the 12 constellations and compiled a constellation table.

Later, the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy combined all the constellation knowledge at that time and proposed 48 constellations.

He also named these constellations after mythological figures.

The Chinese divided the sky into three enclosures and 3 constellations very early on.

The 28 constellations are the well-known Azure Dragon in the East, White Tiger in the West, Vermillion Bird in the South and Black Tortoise in the North.

No matter how the Eastern and Western constellations are divided and named, the core is the same: dividing the sky into different areas.

The star you observe belongs to the constellation in which area.

However, since science had not yet been born at that time, human beings' understanding of astronomy was still very superficial.

The division of constellations is based on the location where they are located as the observation center.

If a Westerner goes to the East, he will find that his knowledge of constellations is no longer useful.

Because the layout of the stars in the sky has changed.

In modern times, with the increasing frequency of scientific exchanges, the problem has become more prominent.

For example, a Chinese person published a paper saying that I discovered a new star located in the [corner] area of ​​the Eastern Azure Dragon.

European and American astronomers could only look puzzled and ask: "Where is that?"

Therefore, in order to solve the problem of inconsistency in constellations in different places, the International Astronomical Union divided the constellations into 88 constellations based on the ancient Greek constellations using a more scientific method.

To put it simply, the universe corresponding to the spherical surface of the earth is divided into 88 regions.

In this way, no matter where people are from, as long as they hear the name of the new constellation, they will know which area it refers to, and it will be unified globally.

The Cygnus that Schwarzschild mentioned is one of the 88 constellations.

One thing to note here.

Almost 99% of all the stars visible to the naked eye are located in a very small area of ​​the Milky Way.

However, the straight-line distance of the 88 constellations can be extended infinitely.

It is the projection of all celestial bodies in this area on the earth.

For example, if a star outside the Milky Way is bright enough, it can be observed through a telescope, and its projection is located in the constellation Cygnus.

Then we can say that this star is in the constellation Cygnus.

After the young man understood the division of the constellations, he hurriedly thanked him. And Schwarzschild's speech had reached the most critical point.

"So, how do I know for sure that this object is a black hole?"

“There are two pieces of evidence.”

“First, since even light cannot escape from the surface of a black hole, it cannot be detected optically.”

"The best way to do this is to calculate it through the gravitational effects of a black hole."

"Fortunately, the black hole I discovered is located in a binary star system."

"The other object in the system is a blue supergiant star with about 40 times the mass of our sun."

Snapped!
Schwarzschild released a calculation picture.

"As shown in the figure, based on the trajectory of the blue supergiant star, there is obviously a companion star around it."

"But the companion star is completely invisible optically."

"Through calculations using the equations of universal gravitation and kinematics, we know that the density of this companion star far exceeds that of a neutron star and reaches the level of a black hole."

“Of course, that alone is not sufficient.”

"Perhaps this invisible companion is some kind of special celestial body."

“So, I found the second piece of evidence.”

"According to black hole theory, the absorption of matter by a black hole is a very energetic behavior."

"During this process, the inhaled matter will emit strong X-rays due to friction and compression."

"These X-rays are still full of energy even though they are thousands or millions of light years away."

"So, through several months of continuous observation, I obtained the spectrum emitted by the companion star system."

"From the analysis of the spectrum, we know that the mass of the X-ray source it emits far exceeds the mass limit of a neutron star and can be confirmed as a black hole."

"In summary, mechanical and electromagnetic methods confirm each other."

"I think the companion star in this binary system is a black hole."

Wow!
There was a burst of exclamations in the venue!
Everyone stared at the information in a daze, their faces filled with shock!
Although there is no direct photo of a black hole, the data provided by Schwarzschild are ironclad facts.

Apart from theoretically predicted black holes, no known celestial objects meet these properties.

"My God!"

"Professor Schwarzschild really found a black hole!"

"This is definitely another milestone in the history of astronomy!"

"The ultimate celestial body in the universe has appeared!"

Everyone was shocked and talked about it.

Soon, everyone looked at the tall and strong man sitting in the front row.

Another prediction of Professor Bruce's general theory of relativity has been proven!

Eddington proved the bending of starlight, and Hubble proved the expansion of the universe.

Now, Schwarzschild has proved the existence of black holes.

The original three great astronomers got to know each other because of Guangxiang’s prediction, and now they are famous throughout the world because of Guangxiang!
Hubble and Eddington's eyes were full of excitement.

"Hahaha, it really feels like a dream."

"The vows we three made more than a decade ago have now all come true."

The five major prophecies proved three.

The emergence of black holes leaves no doubt about the correctness of the general principle!
A smile appeared involuntarily on Li Qiwei's lips.

He smiled and said to the big guys next to him:
"Professor Schwarzschild really came prepared."

The bosses sighed.

The existence of the black hole shocked them greatly.

What is even more shocking is that Professor Bruce, while chatting and laughing, trained three great men who are famous in the astronomy world.

His influence on astronomy is unmatched.

Soon, Eddington took the stage.

He hugged Schwarzschild and said to the crowd:
"Now, if you have any questions about this black hole, feel free to ask."

The audience suddenly became noisy, and many people could not contain their excitement.

Someone asked:

"Professor Schwarzschild, according to the theory of stellar evolution, the ultimate fate of this blue supergiant star should also be to collapse into a black hole."

"But now its companion star is a black hole. How will it evolve?"

Wow!
Everyone became interested.

That’s a very good question.

Schwarzschild nodded and smiled:
“I have thought about this question.”

“I think there are two possible outcomes.”

"In the first case, the blue supergiant star is completely swallowed by the existing black hole, and the binary star system becomes a single black hole."

"Second, the existing black hole is not enough to digest the blue supergiant, and the latter continues to collapse into a black hole."

"In this way, a binary black hole system consisting of two black holes will appear."

"The violent attraction between them, pulling on each other, will produce a reaction with higher energy than a black hole swallowing a star."

Everyone was shocked!

What a horrific cosmic disaster it would be if the two most powerful celestial bodies in the universe were spinning madly and tearing each other apart!

At this time, Yu Qingsong suddenly stood up and said:
"Professor Schwarzschild, I would like to add something."

"I have specialized in studying black hole mergers."

"If two black holes form a binary system and interact with each other, they will emit strong radiation."

"This electromagnetic wave has higher energy than X-rays."

"I consulted Professor Bruce, and after calculations he concluded that the most likely possibility was gamma rays."

"And through my analysis, this gamma ray is not scattered in all directions, but ejected in a specific direction."

“It was like a bunch of fireworks.”

"It's just that this firework is a gamma-ray burst emitted by a black hole!"

Wow!
When the gamma rays burst out, everyone was shocked!
Just by hearing the name, you can tell how terrifying this astronomical phenomenon is.

The bosses present were all well aware of the power of gamma rays.

Given the mass and violence of a black hole, how terrifying would its gamma rays be!
Li Qiwei smiled and nodded.

Yu Qingsong is indeed a teachable kid.

With just a few casual hints from him, the other party was able to infer the existence of a gamma-ray burst.

The most terrifying electromagnetic phenomenon in the universe can destroy everything!
Even Schwarzschild could not help asking:
"Dr. Yu, according to your theory, if we can detect a strong gamma-ray reaction in the same direction next time, it can prove that the blue supergiant has turned into a black hole?"

Yu Qingsong nodded.

"That's the theory."

Yu Qingsong was a young man valued by Professor Bruce, so Schwarzschild naturally attached great importance to his theory.

He smiled and said:

"Dr. Yu, after your speech, I would like to ask you about the black hole problem."

Yu Qingsong said quickly: "You're welcome, Professor Schwarzschild."

Suddenly, someone worriedly said:

"What if a gamma-ray burst hits the Earth? That would be the end of us."

"If such high-energy rays swept across the Earth, I'm afraid all living things would be extinct."

Schwarzschild smiled and said:
"Don't worry. The Cygnus X-1 black hole is thousands of light years away from Earth, plus it takes time to devour a star."

"If there really is a gamma-ray burst, it will be tens of thousands of years later."

"Besides, the universe is so vast, it's unlikely that the direction of a gamma-ray burst would be aimed at the Earth by chance."

"After all, the Earth has existed peacefully for who knows how long."

Soon, the discussion returned to the black hole itself.

Everyone kept asking all kinds of sharp questions.

Schwarzschild remained calm and rigorously explained each question based on observational data.

In the end, the big guys can almost be sure:
Cygnus X-1 is the first black hole discovered by humans!
(End of this chapter)