Eposode 79: Sounds like a black hole

Transcript:

Panel 1
Beggrin: Ooooh, I thought that trip into the supernova remnant was rough, but the trip back out…

Panel 2
Alkina: Well, Beggrin, you’ll probably be feeling better now, because we are arriving at the coordinates for the treasure.

Panel 3
Alkina: Uh, Epo?

Panel 4
Epo: Gravitational analysis shows an object of 1.2 solar masses directly ahead; but I detect no signal.

Panel 5
Beggrin: Large mass with no light escaping? Sounds like a black hole to me.

Panel 6
Alkina: Hmmm, I’m not convinced yet, Epo, let’s take a full gamma ray analysis of the object.

What does it mean?

Solar mass – This is the mass of our Sun, or about 2 x 1030 kilograms.

Gamma ray – The very highest energy end of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Hey, where’s my science?

Alkina does not seem convinced that the object in front of her is a black hole. Can you think of any reasons why she should be skeptical that the object might be a black hole?