Symposium Abstract

David Sitar

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Earth/Black Hole Encounter

Fictitious Hollywood movies have featured menacing comets and asteroids striking our planet with devastating results, yet the mere passing of a solar-mass object as we traverse the Milky Way could wreak havoc on our entire planetary system. What are the chances of this phenomenon, and what would happen if this did occur? The nature of black holes and neutron stars, along with computer simulations of potential encounters, are demonstrated in this unsettling presentation.

Session B — 10:00 a.m. — Alumni Room.