The Gravitational Pull of the Great Attractor vs. the Biggest Black Holes

When examining the gravitational pull of the Great Attractor (also known as the Great Attractor region) and the biggest known black hole, Phoenix A, it becomes clear that the Great Attractor has a significantly greater gravitational pull due to its vast mass. In this article, we will delve into the details of these two massive objects and explore why the gravitational pull of the Great Attractor is much stronger.

Mass Comparison

Currently, the largest known black hole is Phoenix A, with a mass of approximately 2 x 10^41 kg, or about 100 billion times the mass of our Sun. While another black hole, TON 618, is even more massive, it may violate theoretical limits regarding black hole formation. In contrast, the Great Attractor, a density wave in the Centaurus Cluster, is believed to have a mass of around 5 x 10^16 solar masses, or about 10^47 kg. This makes the Great Attractor several orders of magnitude more massive than Phoenix A.

Gravitational Pull: A Comparative Analysis

The gravitational pull of any massive object can be determined by its mass and the distance from which it is measured. The gravitational force between two masses is given by the formula: F G * (M1 * M2) / R^2, where F is the force, G is the gravitational constant, M1 and M2 are the masses, and R is the distance between them.

Black Hole Gravitational Pull

For a black hole, the gravitational pull is most pronounced at its event horizon. The event horizon of a black hole is the point beyond which nothing (not even light) can escape. The gravitational acceleration at the event horizon is infinite, meaning that it would require an infinitely powerful rocket to escape the black hole. However, if we consider the gravitational pull at a distance of 100,000 kilometers from the event horizon, the black hole will still exert a significant pull due to its proximity to its center, where the mass is concentrated.

Galaxy Cluster Gravitational Pull

The Great Attractor, being a galaxy cluster, has a much larger mass spread out over a much larger volume. This means that its gravitational pull affects a much broader region of space. Even a galaxy containing several stars and probably significant amounts of dark matter, the total mass is much larger than that of a black hole. Therefore, the gravitational pull of the Great Attractor is much stronger at larger distances compared to a black hole.

The Definition of Gravitational Pull

The question of which has a greater gravitational pull can be answered differently depending on how the pull is defined and the reference distance considered. If pull is measured at a reference distance from the center of both the black hole and the Great Attractor, the Great Attractor would have a greater pull due to its larger mass. However, if the pull is measured at the event horizon of the black hole, it would have an infinite pull.

Another way to consider this is to look at the surface gravity of the black hole and the Great Attractor. The surface gravity of a black hole is given by the formula: g G * M / R^2, where M is the mass and R is the radius. In the case of the Great Attractor, R is much larger, and M is much larger, making its gravitational pull much stronger.

It is crucial to note that the Great Attractor's mass is on the order of 100,000 times that of the largest known black hole, TON 618. This significant difference in mass means the gravitational pull of the Great Attractor is much stronger, even when considering the vast distances involved.

However, if you get closer to a black hole like TON 618, which is only 0.04 light years in diameter, you can get much closer to it than the Great Attractor, which may span tens of millions of light years.

In summary, while the Great Attractor and black holes both exert strong gravitational pulls, the Great Attractor due to its massive scale and distributed mass has a greater gravitational pull over a larger area in space.