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Black Hole: the Information Barrier

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Reality | Fantasy

Black hole – one of the greatest fantasies in reality.

This exhibition will unravel such fantasies, explore their myths and truths, and allow light to gleam through the impenetrable.

The exhibition features the anatomy of a black hole, the technologies that help us to “see” and “hear” them, and the latest researches on this growing field. Journey through the history of black hole discovery, feel the brightness of their emissions, and take a glimpse on their lives and deaths. Last but not least, discover the paradoxes and the possibilities of black holes, and learn whether we can make use of this novel resource.

Let’s unveil the mysterious black holes and smash the information barrier!

 

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Highlight Exhibits

Special Exhibition Introduction
Exhibition leads the visitors to unveil the mysterious black holes
Black & Bald
"Black and Bald": To unfold the history of black hole research and delve into the anatomy of black holes
Black & Bald
"Into the Unknown": Visitors can experience falling into a black hole through the virtual reality goggles
Zoo of Darkness
"Zoo of Darkness": Illustrates the births and deaths of black holes
Seeing & Hearing the Dark
"A Glimpse of Darkness": Visitors can engage with the black hole 3D puzzle which introduces the technology that helps us "see" black holes
Seeing & Hearing the Dark
"Sound of Silence": Visitors can “hear” the sound of black holes
Seeing & Hearing the Dark
"Ripples of Spacetime": Visitors can learn the science behind gravitational wave detection through this experimental setup
Dazzling & Downy
"Dazzling & Downy": Visitors can touch the two black hole models, created based on real data, to experience the variations in their temperatures, masses, and sizes
Information Barrier
"Information Barrier": Visitors can try to input information into the simulated black hole and see their results
Perfect Laboratory
"Perfect Laboratory": Introduce the equation for black hole temperature and the latest research on black holes by local scholars

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Information

Black Hole Q&A

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In this episode of "Explore Science 101 - Space Intelligent Search Team", Timothea Sin, Assistant Curator of the Hong Kong Space Museum, will delve into the science of black holes and the ultimate fate of matter falling into them.

 

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It is now clear that stars sometimes become black holes and that most normal galaxies have a massive black hole, in their nuclei. However, while pop-culture often depicts them as frightening cosmic monsters, black holes can interact - sometimes strongly, sometimes subtly - and often benevolently, with their environment. Massive black holes can attract gas and cause it to shine brighter than their galactic hosts. Black holes can use their rotation to create twin jets flowing outwards with speeds close to that of light. They can shatter stars which wander too close. They can also acquire black hole partners which become locked in an ecstatic dance before merging and creating a burst of gravitational waves – ripples in the fabric of space-time that travel at the speed of light. We have learned, are learning and should soon learn much more about each of these interactions, as I shall try to illustrate

Speaker: Prof. Roger Blandford (Shaw Laureate in Astronomy 2020)
Moderator: Prof. Shuang Zhang (Head and Chair Professor, Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong)
Duration: around 1.5 hours

 

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We are sharing a reading list on black hole science. All books on the list are available at the Hong Kong Public Libraries.

  • Bailyn, Charles D., What does a black hole look like? (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014) (HKPL call number 523.8875 BAI)
  • Bartusiak, Marcia, Black hole: how an idea abandoned by Newtonians, hated by Einstein, and gambled on by Hawking became loved (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015) (HKPL call number 523.8875 BAR)
  • Cox, B. and Forshaw, J., Black holes: the key to understanding the universe (London: William Collins, 2022) (HKPL call number 523.8 COX)
  • Ferguson, Kitty, Black holes : Stephen Hawking : quest for a theory of everything (New York: Bantam Books, 1992) (HKPL call number 920 HAW)
  • Hawking, Stephen, A brief history of time: from the big bang to black holes (London: Bantam Books, 2011) (HKPL call number 523.1 HAW)
  • Hawking, Stephen, Brief answers to the big questions (London: John Murray, 2018) (HKPL call number 500 HAW)
  • Labrecque, Ellen, Mysteries of black holes and dark matter (Oxford: Raintree, a Capstone company, 2021) (HKPL call number 523.8875 LAB)
  • Levin, Janna, Black hole survival guide (London: The Bodley Head, 2020) (HKPL call number 523.8875 LEV)
  • Susskind, Leonard, The black hole war : my battle with Stephen Hawking to make the world safe for quantum mechanics (New York: Back Bay Books, 2009) (HKPL call number 530.12 SUS)
  • Thorne, Kip S., The science of Interstellar (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014) (HKPL call number 791.4372 THO)
  • Weinberg, Steven, Dreams of a final theory (New York: Vintage Books, 1994) (HKPL call number 530 WEI)
  • 史蒂芬·霍金 (Hawking, Stephen)。《時間簡史 : 從大爆炸到黑洞》（許明賢，吳忠超譯）（上海：三聯，1993）（HKPL 索書號 323.9 0052）
  • 史蒂芬·霍金 (Hawking, Stephen)。《新時間簡史》（郭兆林，周念縈譯）（台北市：大塊文化出版股份有限公司，2012）（HKPL 索書號 323.9 0052）
  • 皮克奧弗 (Clifford A. Pickover)。《黑洞旅遊指南》（黃啟明譯）（台北：寰宇，1998）（HKPL 索書號 323.9 1422）
  • 芭杜席雅克 (Bartusiak, Marcia)。《黑洞簡史》（嚴麗娟譯）（台北市：貓頭鷹出版，2018）（HKPL 索書號 323.9 1073）
  • 萊文 (Levin, Janna)。《黑洞藍調 : 諾貝爾獎LIGO團隊探索重力波五十年 人類對宇宙最執著的傾聽》（胡小銳，萬慧譯）（台北市：漫遊者文化事業股份有限公司，2018）（HKPL 索書號 323.97454）