Illuminating black holes. Part 2: Vortices, soap stars, and bubble galaxies
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Embargoed until: 5555-01-01
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Embargoed until: 5555-01-01
Reason: Version not permitted
Volume
52
Publisher
DOI
10.1088/1361-6552/aa62e9
Journal
Physics Education
Issue
ISSN
0031-9120
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The addition of soap to vortexing water produces bubble structures around the vortices' 'throats' that resemble galaxies of stars. Such soap-bubble models can be used to suggest the prediction that, at the heart of spiral galaxies may lie supermassive black holes. Combined with earlier work on illuminating black holes, these simple models could be useful classroom demonstrations of the extreme consequences of space-time distortion predicted by general relativity.