Uploaded March 2011 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Journey of an observer orbiting a Kerr black hole at the last stable orbit in the direct direction (the direction in which the black hole is rotating). Here, the black hole has a mass of roughly one million solar masses (Schwarzschild radius = 10 light seconds) and an angular momentum at 80% of maximality (a/M=0.8).
The observer is on the equatorial plane, at a distance (r coordinate) of 1.453 Schwarzschild radii (4.4 million kilometers), has a total energy of 87.8% of their rest mass energy (the minimal possible value for a circular orbit around this black hole), and rotates around the black hole in 180.8s as seen by asymptotic observers, but 83.9s in their own proper time. The camera is stabilized by a gyroscope, but because of gyroscopic precession, it takes 155.7s (the length of this video) in the observer's time for it to return to the same point of view.
In the video, a blue sphere is placed outside the black hole at some distance (representing fixed distant stars), and the outer and inner horizons are various shades of red and green (red/orange/brown for outer, green for inner; lighter shades are white hole horizons, darker shades are black hole horizons). All spheres are checkered in an identical way, with twenty-four longitudinal stripes and twelve latitudinal (or polar) stripes, consistent with the black hole's axis. (The longitudinal stripes on the horizons rotate with the black hole.)
More explanation, other videos and higher quality download ← madore.org/~david/math/kerr.html
Journey of an observer orbiting a Kerr black hole at the last stable orbit in the direct direction (the direction in which the black hole is rotating). Here, the black hole has a mass of roughly one million solar masses (Schwarzschild radius = 10 light seconds) and an angular momentum at 80% of maximality (a/M=0.8).
The observer is on the equatorial plane, at a distance (r coordinate) of 1.453 Schwarzschild radii (4.4 million kilometers), has a total energy of 87.8% of their rest mass energy (the minimal possible value for a circular orbit around this black hole), and rotates around the black hole in 180.8s as seen by asymptotic observers, but 83.9s in their own proper time. The camera is stabilized by a gyroscope, but because of gyroscopic precession, it takes 155.7s (the length of this video) in the observer's time for it to return to the same point of view.
In the video, a blue sphere is placed outside the black hole at some distance (representing fixed distant stars), and the outer and inner horizons are various shades of red and green (red/orange/brown for outer, green for inner; lighter shades are white hole horizons, darker shades are black hole horizons). All spheres are checkered in an identical way, with twenty-four longitudinal stripes and twelve latitudinal (or polar) stripes, consistent with the black hole's axis. (The longitudinal stripes on the horizons rotate with the black hole.)
More explanation, other videos and higher quality download ← madore.org/~david/math/kerr.html
