Light Eye
01-29-2006, 12:02 PM
Dear Friends,
More interesting thoughts from Petter Russell.
http://www.peterussell.com/WUIT/Omega.html
Be Well, Be Love.
David
Omega - A White Hole in Time
The day will come when, after harnessing the winds, the tides and
gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of Love. And on that day, for
the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire
Teilhard de Chardin
The acceleration of evolution towards a time of infinitely rapid change is not
so exceptional as one might at first suppose. The evolution of matter in a star
follows a similar pattern.
For 99.99 percent of its existence a star burns hydrogen, fusing the atoms
into helium and radiating the energy released as light. Eventually the hydrogen
runs out. For a star the size of our Sun this happens after about 10 billion
years -- it is currently about half way through its life. Larger stars burn up
more quickly, smaller ones can last as long as a 100 billion years.
When all the hydrogen has been consumed, a star can, if it is sufficiently
massive, switch to burning the helium it has created, transforming it into
carbon. This keeps the star going for another million years or so. When the
helium is used up the star can survive for another thousand years by fusing the
carbon into neon. And when the carbon runs out the star burns the neon to form
silicon. But the neon is exhausted within a year. Then, in a process that lasts
only a few days, the silicon fuses into iron.
That is as far as a star can go along this particular path. Fusing iron does
not release energy; it requires additional energy. The star? s fire begins to
die, and with it the energy that until now has supported the weight of its outer
layers. Very quickly it begins to collapse.
As its matter becomes increasingly compressed, its gravitational field
increases. Within minutes it becomes so intense that even atoms cannot withstand
the pressure. Electrons are stripped away and atomic nuclei pack in upon each
other, reaching densities of more than a million tons per cubic inch. This
disintegration releases enormous amounts of energy, blowing off the star? s
outer layers in what is known as a ?supernova.? This is one of the Universe's
more spectacular shows, more energy being released during these few seconds than
over the rest of the star? s entire life.
Left behind is a neutron star -- a solid mass of neutrons a mere fifteen or so
miles across. For a sufficiently massive star (one about three times the mass of
the Sun) the gravitational field has now become so strong that matter itself
breaks down. The star is said to have reached a singularity: a point at which
the laws of physics no longer work. Mathematical equations become filled with
zeros and infinities and cease to make any sense. There is a hole in space.
So intense is the gravitational field nothing can escape it. Even light is
pulled back down. If no light can escape, then nothing can be seen of the star.
It becomes a ?black hole.?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
More interesting thoughts from Petter Russell.
http://www.peterussell.com/WUIT/Omega.html
Be Well, Be Love.
David
Omega - A White Hole in Time
The day will come when, after harnessing the winds, the tides and
gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of Love. And on that day, for
the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire
Teilhard de Chardin
The acceleration of evolution towards a time of infinitely rapid change is not
so exceptional as one might at first suppose. The evolution of matter in a star
follows a similar pattern.
For 99.99 percent of its existence a star burns hydrogen, fusing the atoms
into helium and radiating the energy released as light. Eventually the hydrogen
runs out. For a star the size of our Sun this happens after about 10 billion
years -- it is currently about half way through its life. Larger stars burn up
more quickly, smaller ones can last as long as a 100 billion years.
When all the hydrogen has been consumed, a star can, if it is sufficiently
massive, switch to burning the helium it has created, transforming it into
carbon. This keeps the star going for another million years or so. When the
helium is used up the star can survive for another thousand years by fusing the
carbon into neon. And when the carbon runs out the star burns the neon to form
silicon. But the neon is exhausted within a year. Then, in a process that lasts
only a few days, the silicon fuses into iron.
That is as far as a star can go along this particular path. Fusing iron does
not release energy; it requires additional energy. The star? s fire begins to
die, and with it the energy that until now has supported the weight of its outer
layers. Very quickly it begins to collapse.
As its matter becomes increasingly compressed, its gravitational field
increases. Within minutes it becomes so intense that even atoms cannot withstand
the pressure. Electrons are stripped away and atomic nuclei pack in upon each
other, reaching densities of more than a million tons per cubic inch. This
disintegration releases enormous amounts of energy, blowing off the star? s
outer layers in what is known as a ?supernova.? This is one of the Universe's
more spectacular shows, more energy being released during these few seconds than
over the rest of the star? s entire life.
Left behind is a neutron star -- a solid mass of neutrons a mere fifteen or so
miles across. For a sufficiently massive star (one about three times the mass of
the Sun) the gravitational field has now become so strong that matter itself
breaks down. The star is said to have reached a singularity: a point at which
the laws of physics no longer work. Mathematical equations become filled with
zeros and infinities and cease to make any sense. There is a hole in space.
So intense is the gravitational field nothing can escape it. Even light is
pulled back down. If no light can escape, then nothing can be seen of the star.
It becomes a ?black hole.?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]