Reasons to Believe

Massive Black Holes

February 1, 2004
By Dr. Hugh Ross

TNRTB Archive - Retained for reference information

Two Japanese astronomers have discovered why only a very few galaxies are candidates for the possible support of life. Life is possible only in a large galaxy, but for all but a few large galaxies the mass of their central black hole is too large. The astronomers found that stellar radiation in the galactic bulge drives the mass accretion (gas) on to the central black hole. Consequently, all large elliptical galaxies and all spiral galaxies with a large bulge will produce a central black hole too large to permit life’s survival. It seems no accident that the Milky Way is fine-tuned for life. 

 Nozomu Kawakatu and Masayuki Umemura, “Why Are Massive Black Holes Small in Disk Galaxies?” Astrophysical Journal Letters, 601 (2004), pp. L21-L24.

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/journal/issues/ApJL/v601n1/17821/brief/17821.abstract.html   

RTB article: Facts for Faith articles on the anthropic principle

RTB book: The Creator and the Cosmos, third edition

RTB: Journey Toward Creation, 2nd edition

Subjects: Galaxy Design

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Dr. Hugh Ross

Reasons to Believe emerged from my passion to research, develop, and proclaim the most powerful new reasons to believe in Christ as Creator, Lord, and Savior and to use those new reasons to reach people for Christ. Read more about Dr. Hugh Ross.