Molecular Black Hole (IMAGE)

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Molecular Black Hole

Caption

In this illustration, an ultra-intense X-ray laser pulse from SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source knocks so many electrons out of a molecule’s iodine atom (right) that the iodine starts pulling in electrons from the rest of the molecule (lower left), like an electromagnetic version of a black hole. Many of the stolen electrons are also knocked out by the laser pulse; then the molecule explodes.

Credit

DESY/Science Communication Lab

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