The US space agency NASA recently launched a surprisingly detailed simulation that shows what happens when you get close and fall into a black hole. This representation, made possible thanks to the potential of the Discover supercomputer at NASA’s Center for Climate Simulation, allows users to live a 360-degree experience that is as fascinating as it is terrifying in approaching the point of no return of a black hole.
The video of this simulation is available online and offers a unique and immersive perspective. Created by simplifying some complex concepts, such as removing rotation from black hole dynamics, this reproduction aims to focus attention on the allure of the unknown cosmic, while reducing the need for extremely complex calculations.
The black hole protagonist of the simulation is inspired by the gigantic one supermassive black hole located at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. This colossus, with a mass 4.3 million times higher than that of the Sunpossesses the ability to curve the space around it, a phenomenon that this simulation seeks to capture and explore.
Conducting a simulation of this magnitude was a monumental task. NASA revealed that the process took about five days, using just 0.3% of the Discover supercomputer’s 129,000 processors. During this period, approx 10 terabytes of data, a volume that is approximately half the estimated textual content of the Library of Congress.
As evidence of the enormous computational power required for a project of this type, the US space agency highlighted that carrying out a simulation of similar detail on a standard laptop would have required almost a decade.
Through its work, NASA continues to push the boundaries of our understanding of the universe, offering the public the opportunity to get closer, albeit virtually, to cosmic phenomena that would otherwise be inaccessible. Simulations of this scale provide not only valuable teaching tools, but also open windows into worlds that challenge the imagination, allowing everyone to explore the wonders of space from the comfort of their own home.
