---
title: "NASA’s New Black Hole Simulation Will Completely Melt Your Brain"
description: "A new trippy visualization put together by NASA shows how a black hole distorts its appearance by distorting the matter around it and skewing the light emitted thanks to its immense gravity. NASA helpfully included a labelled image that runs you through the different highlights of its visualization. “Simulations and movies like these really help […]"
date: "2019-09-26"
modified: "2019-09-26"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-black-hole-visualization"
categories:
  - "Astrophysics"
  - "Black Holes"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "black hole"
  - "NASA"
  - "Supermassive Black Hole"
  - "supermassive black holes"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA’s New Black Hole Simulation Will Completely Melt Your Brain

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/nasa-black-hole-visualization.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Hungry Hungry

A [new trippy visualization](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-visualization-shows-a-black-hole-s-warped-world>) by NASA researchers shows how a black hole distorts its appearance by skewing the matter around it and warping the light itself with its immense gravity.

Gigantic black holes often appear at the center of large galaxies, where they pack an immense amount of matter into a tiny space. The resulting gravitational field [eats up everything](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/uh-oh-milky-ways-giant-black-hole-hungry>), including light.

![](<https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/thumbnails/image/bh_accretiondisk_sim_stationary_websize.gif?itok=8ZLNJ1If>)

## Warp Zone

In the visualization, the yellow highlights are twisting magnetic fields as they're making their way through churning gas. The inside gas nearest to the hole itself orbits the hole at almost the speed of light, according to a [NASA statement](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-visualization-shows-a-black-hole-s-warped-world>).

The reason it has separate rings jutting out of the bottom is because of intense gravitational forces bending the light emitted by the disk, thereby providing a view of the disk's underside.

## Warping Space and Time

A team of scientists used NASA's Event Horizon Telescope to [snap](<https://futurism.com/scientists-release-first-image-black-hole>) the first-ever image of a black hole to the world back in April. Scientists are already working on getting an [even crisper, higher resolution shot](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-telescope-black-hole-image-crisp>) using two or three satellites.

NASA also helpfully included a labelled image of the highlights of its visualization.

![](<https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/bh_labeled.jpg>)

**READ MORE:** [New NASA Visualisation of a Black Hole Is So Beautiful We Could Cry](<https://www.sciencealert.com/this-new-nasa-visualisation-of-a-black-hole-is-so-beautiful-we-could-cry>) \[*ScienceAlert*\]

**More on black holes:** [*Uh Oh: The Milky Way’s Giant Black Hole Is “Getting Hungrier”*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/uh-oh-milky-ways-giant-black-hole-hungry>)

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)