Why Doesn't This Black Hole Emit X-rays?

[Labguy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061206/sc_nm/blackhole_dc

If this were the case as explained, wouldn't we be detecting in X-ray also?

 

[Chris Hillman]

Hi, Labguy,

You asked about http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061206/sc_nm/blackhole_dc , and I have a general comment about such items: don't forget that press releases like are often not written by the scientists who did the research, but by public relations persons who are not scientists and who therefore tend to misunderstand the scientific issues mentioned to a greater or lesser extent.

If this were the case as explained, wouldn't we be detecting in X-ray also?

The press release did mention that GALEX is sensitive to UV, not X-ray, which probably explains why X-rays are not mentioned prominently in this particular press release. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GALEX&oldid=91094687; note that I have linked to a specific version using the "permanent link" button, and that this version includes links to the GALEX home page at Caltech. (In using Wikpedia, you should always make allowance for the fact that Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at any time. WP articles on topics currently in the news are often highly unstable and may be highly inaccurate at any given moment.)

The press release also mentions that the scientists in question also employed data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (which is sensitive to X-rays) and to optical telescopes (which are sensitive to ordinary light).

Chris Hillman