Imagine, in the frigid depths of space, a pair of immense black holes crashing together so violently that they shake the fabric of space and time. How would it feel to witness this cataclysmic event up close and personal? What would it be like to fall into the gargantuan combined black hole?
To find out, Quanta Magazine partnered with Bandwidth Productions to picture a future generation of scientists that sends a fleet of robotic probes to a pair of black holes that are about to merge. After the merger, the probes approach and enter the resulting black hole — rendered with the help of physicists Anthony Aguirre and Duncan Brown, and referencing the technically accurate black hole simulations of physicist Andrew Hamilton. Download this “Black Hole VR” app to find out what happens next.
Open the app, insert your phone into a Google Cardboard viewer or another VR headset, and press play to take the plunge.