By Dan Hicks

Black holes have demonstrated the strength of their cosmic gravitational reach – extending from the depths of space, all the way into our Cranbrook Public Library! But is there any corresponding curiosity extending upwards to the actual stars above us? or does a “starry paradox” prevail?

This dark time of year, what might have caused my fellow Cranbrookers to become intrigued with black holes, and perhaps even entertain the notion of leaping into one? I suspect that they may be manifesting symptoms of suffering from a steady relentless bombardment, not from deep space cosmic rays but rather, from months of prolonged overexposure to in-store Christmas music while pathologically over-consuming to obtain those ever illusive perfect Christmas gifts; after a while, the mightiest and meanest of black holes might begin to appear as offering an inviting escape from all Earthy woes.

So much for my avant-garde theory of a correlation between black hole enthusiasm and nightmarish Xmas shopping, let us now gravitate to those fearsome black holes themselves.

Lead image: The Messier 87* black hole & its dual cosmic jets, M87 Galaxy, Virgo constellation. Artist S. Dagnello (NRAO, AUI, & NSF). April 26, 2023

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