1
$\begingroup$

I read recently multiple articles about physicists observing the birth of a star, or a star swallowed by a black hole.

However I can't manage to understand how these phenomena are observable at such scales. Common sense would lead me to think that the bigger the object you observe is, the bigger the timeframe of associated phenomena are. I mean it seems that when you look at the micro-/nanoscopic world, phenomena happen very very fast. So when you look at galaxies it should be very very slow from our point of view.

So if we can watch the process of a star's birth, does it mean that such events have a timeframe similar to the phenomena that we observe at our scales?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
2
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ The plunge phase of black hole merger events is very, very fast, like less than a second. $\endgroup$
    – Zo the Relativist
    Commented Mar 30, 2017 at 13:14
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Yes, one would like astronomically-big objects to move astronomically slowly, but this is not always the case. Millisecond pulsars are a garden-variety example of things that move blisteringly fast by that naive metric. Astronomy turns out to be full of astronomically large numbers. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Mar 30, 2017 at 13:18

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2
$\begingroup$

Typically astronomical events do not happen on the time scale of humans. So what scientists do, is look at a large sample of events each at a different time in the evolution of the event. So for example to see 'stars' being born they would look in a gas nebula and see several examples of stars being formed in the different stages of coalescing. However, some portions of these events can be on a human time-scale. A supernova can be seen over a period of several weeks to months. This would be rather boring to watch in real-time but if you use time-lapse 'photography' of about 1 day per sample you could see the event quite clearly.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.