Further Information

Books

Grant, John. Eureka!: 50 Scientists Who Shaped Human History. San Francisco: Zest Books, 2016.

Kruesi, Liz. Astronomy. Minneapolis: Abdo Publishing, 2016.

Moore, Patrick. Exploring the Mysteries of Astronomy. New York: Rosen Publishing, 2017.

Films and Documentaries

Ghez, Andrea. “The Hunt for a Supermassive Black Hole.” TEDGlobal 2009, 16:26. July 2009. https://www.ted.com/talks/andrea_ghez_the_hunt_for_a_supermassive_black_hole?language=en. With new data from the Keck telescopes, Ghez shows how state-of-the-art adaptive optics are helping astronomers understand our universe’s most mysterious objects: black holes.

Green, Hank. “What Stephen Hawking Really Said about Black Holes,” 4:27. Posted by “SciShow,” February 14, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8GCR88T3fE.In this episode of the popular SciShow web series, Hank Green explains what Stephen Hawking meant when he said there are no black holes.

“Inside Einstein’s Mind.” Nova, 53:07. First broadcast on PBS on November 25, 2015. http://www.pbs.org/video/2365615918/.In celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the publication of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, Nova tells the inside story of his masterpiece.

“Neil deGrasse Tyson—Death by Black Hole.” YouTube video, 31:14. Posted by “jesamus charrist,” September 12, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C85roOeyfek. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explains the hypothetical experience of death by falling into a black hole.

Websites

Chandra X-ray Observatory
http://chandra.harvard.edu/
The Chandra website is a rich source of information about discoveries made using the Chandra telescope as well as more general information about X-ray astronomy, black holes, and other astronomical objects.

Einstein Online
http://www.einstein-online.info/

This website provides information about Einstein’s theories of relativity and the coolest applications, from the smallest particles to black holes and cosmology. It contains historical information as well as recent discoveries related to Einstein’s theories.

Event Horizon Telescope
http://www.eventhorizontelescope.org/

The key science objectives of the Event Horizon Telescope, technical and science requirements, the primary observing targets (including Sagittarius A*), and key science results are featured at this site.

Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/
The gamma ray space telescope’s mission to observe the cosmos using the highest-energy form of light, providing a window into black hole jets, supernova remnants, and more are available at this site. The site includes links to related topics, such as dark energy and dark matter, active galactic nuclei, and other research at NASA.

“Imagine the Universe!”
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/home.html
Intended for students aged fourteen and older, this site includes pages on black holes and other astronomical objects as well as games, scientist profiles, new discoveries, and more.

“Inside Black Holes”
http://jila.colorado.edu/~ajsh/insidebh/
This website takes the viewer inside black holes using computer-generated visualizations.

Keck Observatory
http://www.keckobservatory.org/

This is the official website of the Keck Observatory, which has the world’s largest and most scientifically productive optical and infrared telescopes. The site includes recent news about scientific discoveries, photos, and videos.

LIGO Scientific Collaboration
http://www.ligo.org/

The official website of the LIGO collaboration has up-to-date news and discoveries, along with good explanations of the science behind the project. Of special interest is the page “Comparing ‘Chirps’ from Black Holes,” where the best-fit models of LIGO’s gravitational wave signals are converted into sounds.