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From: FIRTH%TARTAN@CMU-CS-C.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Speed of light
Message-ID: <15007@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 2-Jan-84 10:21:08 EST
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.15007
Posted: Mon Jan  2 10:21:08 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 4-Jan-84 03:51:52 EST
Lines: 26

Just a minor nitpick: the speed of light is NOT the same on Pluto
as on Mercury, since it depends on the gravitational potential.  It
is also not necessarily the same for moving observers in a gravitational
field, since their frames of reference might be stressed.

Now the real problem: if we can already DETECT a black hole at the centre
of the galaxy, then we have a lot less than 30,000 years to get out of here.
It is one thing for Beowulf Sheaffer to go by FTL drive to see the core,
and quite another for visible evidence to reach us at light speed.  If we
suppose that fast particle radiation travels at upto 99% of the speed of
light, then it will start hitting us 300 years after we see the light from
matter being sucked into the hole.

How much radiation?  How much will be emitted in the galactic plane, which
presumably is the plane of rotation of the hole (angular momentum being
conserved)?  Do we panic now, or will it wait until next century?

Happy New Year.

PS - the giant spiders of Metebelis III get the crystal back, but the Queen
     Spider (all praise to the Great One!) cannot stand the shock of being
     so super-intelligent and explodes with lots of cheap special effects.

     The idea of a spider spinning a web of brain matter may be original to
     the episode, or may have been lifted from Ballard's The Voices of Time.
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