"Jay Windley" wrote...
in message ...

"Rusty Shackleford" wrote in message
m...
|
| Is this an Aetherist interpretation of sound?

No. The black hole in question sits in a big gas cloud, which provides a
medium in which sound can propagate.

If a black hole farts in a cloud of gas, and no one is there to hear it,
does it make a sound? Yes! The alternating zones of compaction and
rarefaction -- which is how physicists define sound -- can be seen in the
photographs. Whether those waves are detected mechanically by a membrane or
optically by a telescope makes little difference.

Estimates of the density of the the material and the measurable wavelength
give us the frequency.

--
|
The universe is not required to conform | Jay Windley
to the expectations of the ignorant. | webmaster @ clavius.org

'Lo Jay and Rusty --

Nope, sorry i disagree... what you describe may be
sound *waves* but it is *not* "sound."

Sound, in order to *be* sound, must be *heard*. If not
heard, then it is not "sound," but merely "sound waves."

To use your common analogy, if a tree falls in the forest,
and there is no animal/plant(?) around with the ability to
hear the tree falling, then the falling tree will not generate
sound, i.e., the tree will not be heard. It shall, of course,
generate sound *waves*, which will dissipate without
being heard.

hth

happy days and...
starry starry nights!

--
Life without love is
A lamp with no oil,
Love without prejudice
A world with no soil,
A tool with no toil.

Paine Ellsworth