To collect all info at the event horizon

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    Event horizon Horizon
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the theoretical possibility of collecting information at the event horizon of a black hole, specifically addressing the feasibility of hovering there and extracting data. The topic touches on concepts from theoretical physics, particularly relating to black holes and their properties.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Ronny proposes a scenario where a shielded spaceship could park at the event horizon of a supermassive black hole to collect visual data.
  • Some participants assert that it is impossible to hover at the event horizon, stating that any attempt to describe such a scenario leads to contradictions.
  • One participant mentions that there is almost no radiation from a black hole itself, but the surrounding accretion disc emits significant radiation, complicating the scenario further.
  • Another participant emphasizes that even in a theoretical context, the premise of hovering at the event horizon contradicts established theories and cannot be answered.
  • There is a suggestion that the discussion could shift to related experiments that might be feasible near black holes, rather than the original question.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the original question about hovering at the event horizon is based on a self-contradictory premise and cannot be answered, even theoretically. However, there is disagreement regarding the tone and approach taken in the responses, with some participants feeling that the responses were overly aggressive.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights limitations in the original question's assumptions, particularly regarding the nature of event horizons and the implications of attempting to hover there. The responses indicate a dependence on established theoretical frameworks that the original premise violates.

Chiron69
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TL;DR
Event horizon,collecting ALL the fotons inside possible?
Hi there!

I have a question for anyone;
If we could have built a shielded spaceship that can withstand all the radiation etc from a supermassive black hole. And we managed to park at the event horizon.
And we want to collect all the visual data that's there in laters, how could we get all the info out, please?

Best wishes from
Ronny,
No(r) way.
 
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You can’t park at the event horizon. Even with infinite thrust, you can’t hover there. Further, no signal of any kind can escape it. Your question is like “if I really want to divide by zero and get a finite answer, how would I do it”.
 
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As PAllen says, you can't. There's no way even in theory to describe someone hovering at the event horizon - any attempt to do so involves contradicting yourself somewhere.

One additional point - there is (almost) no radiation from a black hole. The matter that hasn't yet fallen in and is swirling around outside (called the accretion disc), on the other hand, is so hot that you'd be bathed in hard radiation from that. You may have read of Hawking radiation, which is believed to be emitted from black holes and is the reason for my parenthetical "almost" above. This is undetectably tiny for any non-microscopic black hole - you actually receive more radiation from the cosmic microwave background.
 
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I thought that if was implied that this is a theoretical question, and not a practical. 🤔
OFLf course the gravity would destroy us, but would it be theoretically possible to extract all the information stored inside? Yeeezzz
:-)
 
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Did you read the answers you got? It isn't possible to do, even in theory.

It is perfectly possible to imagine an isolated black hole with no accretion disc and hence no radiation threat. And you can imagine a rocket capable of arbitrarily large thrust. It is still impossible to hover at the event horizon, because "hovering at the event horizon" is a contradiction in terms.
 
And please don't be so aggressive towards new forum users. You mostly look like you're in a reality show/competition on TV to vote someone ou, and more focused on how do make ppl look the dumbest. With exceptions, thankfully! ;-)
 
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I said, in one of only two responses you received (bolding added):
Ibix said:
There's no way even in theory to describe someone hovering at the event horizon
To which you replied (bolding added):
Chiron69 said:
I thought that if was implied that this is a theoretical question
...with a "hmm" emoji and a "yeeezzz" for emphasis of your dismissal of the responses. Then you repeated the same question we'd just pointed out was self-contradictory and could not be answered on any basis. I think a fairly blunt response was warranted.

If you want to go into the details of why your question can't be answered, we can do that. If you want to discuss related experiments that could be performed in principle near black holes, again we could do that. But there is nothing more to say about your original question: it is based on self-contradiction and cannot be answered.
 
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Chiron69 said:
And please don't be so aggressive towards new forum users. You mostly look like you're in a reality show/competition on TV to vote someone ou, and more focused on how do make ppl look the dumbest. With exceptions, thankfully! ;-)
Nobody was aggressive in the slightest, at least not until you started making derogatory and dismissive remarks about the answers you had received. The answers clearly and factually pointed out that your question was in contradiction with the theory itself and therefore could not be answered even "in theory". It is not a question of practicality, it is a matter of your setup violating the theory in itself.
 
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Chiron69 said:
we managed to park at the event horizon.

You can't. It's impossible, even in principle, for an observer to remain stationary at the event horizon.

Chiron69 said:
thought that if was implied that this is a theoretical question

A theoretical question cannot be answered if it is based on a premise that violates the theory.

Chiron69 said:
please don't be so aggressive towards new forum users. You mostly look like you're in a reality show/competition on TV to vote someone ou, and more focused on how do make ppl look the dumbest

Nobody was being aggressive. We are simply telling you that your question is unanswerable.

Thread closed.
 

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