SEARCHING FOR BLACK HOLES finds astronomers on the trail of something so powerful that it is capable of swallowing milliions of stars. This journey takes us from the discovery of quasars to a daring international experiment, which may help revolutionize our understanding of the universe.
Caltech astronomer Jesse Greenstein , who co-discovered quasars in the early 1960's, puts SEARCHING FOR BLACK HOLES in the perspective. He explains why he and others became convinced that a totally new and unknown source of energy must lie at a quasars core.
The work of Caltech's John Conway then reveals how radio telescopes can be used as never before. We follow an extraordinary attempt to identify a black hole by linking huge radio telescopes in six locations across two continents, From Owens Valley, california to the island of Sicily, Conway and an international team of scientists have created , in effect, a huge telescope six thousand miles in diameter.
SEARCHING FOR BALCK HOLES gives us an insider's view of this dramatic experiment, and how they hope to discover a giant black hole in a galaxy some 200 million light years away. In Conway's work we see a new generation of astronomers come of age, as they graw upon the talent of colleagues around the world.
SEARCHING FOR BALCK HOLES makes these astronomers' ideas very clear by using vivid computer graphics. With programs such as this, viewers can really visualize what it mightr be like to finally peer into the specter of a black hole.