Black Hole

In early May, thanks to images captured by the aptly named Event Horizon Telescope, we caught our first glimpse of the big black hole that lies, curled up like my favorite pussy cat, at the center of our galaxy.

Long ago, before anyone knew anything about black holes, we fortuitously named our galaxy The Milky Way. Apparently even then, we somehow sensed that one day, we would be lapped up like a saucer of milk.

Yet, it was oddly comforting to ‘see’ so clearly the ultimate destiny of our spatiotemporal world. Like characters in Douglas Adams’ The Restaurant at the end of the Universe, we sit, peacefully, gazing into the abyss, gazing quite literally at nothing.

Besides, this black hole is 26,000 light-years away.

But it was also disconcerting, because, make no mistake, my kitty will wake up, and when she does… Well, let’s just say that what I described as “26,000 light-years away” will soon be described as “26,000 light-years close.”

Fortunately, Being has another, non-spatial, non-temporal dimension that, thankfully, is beyond the reach of my cat’s tongue. I wonder, “Is my cat aware of this non-extensive dimension just beyond her grasp?”

Are we?

Image: The first image of the black hole at the center of our Milky Way, Sagittarius A*. Credit: NASA/Event Horizon Telescope. Full caption here.