Black Holes Explained
Unraveling Black Holes
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Published in
11-06-2024
Photo: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman.
A simple explanation
Imagine a place where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. That place is a black hole. It's like a bottomless pit in space.
How do they form?
Death of massive stars: When a very large star runs out of fuel, it explodes in a supernova. If the core of that star is heavy enough, it collapses in on itself, forming a black hole.
Big Bang: Some scientists believe that the first black holes formed right after the Big Bang, the great explosion that gave rise to the universe.
How Do Black Holes Form?
Photo: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss.
Parts of a black hole
Singularity: This is the point at the center of the black hole where gravity is infinite.
Event horizon: This is the boundary around the black hole. Once something crosses this boundary, it can't get back out.
What would happen if you got close to a black hole?
Spaghettification: As you get closer to the black hole, gravity pulls on your feet harder than it does on your head. You'd be stretched out like a noodle!
The first image of a black hole was obtained through observations of the center of the galaxy M87 taken by the Event Horizon Telescope. The image shows a bright ring formed when light is bent due to the intense gravity around a black hole 6.5 billion times the mass of the Sun. Photo: NASA, Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.
What do we know about black holes?
They can't be seen directly: Black holes don't emit light, so we can't see them with normal telescopes.
They're detected by their effects on nearby matter: Scientists can detect black holes by observing how they affect stars and the gas around them.
Black holes come in different sizes: From small ones, formed by collapsing stars, to supermassive ones, found at the centre of galaxies.
Are black holes dangerous?
Unless you get too close, black holes aren't dangerous to us. Most are very far away!
What we don't know yet
What's inside a black hole?
Can black holes evaporate?
Can black holes be portals to other universes?
Black holes are one of the most fascinating mysteries in the universe. As scientists continue to study them, we're sure to discover amazing things.
?Discos que giran en sentido contrario alrededor de un #agujeronegro
— Observatorio ALMA? (@ALMAObs_esp) September 23, 2024
?:@TheNRAO
?Subtítulos en español #ciencia pic.twitter.com/DKE7vJ7arF
The closest known #BlackHole to Earth is just 1,560 light-years away. #Space #WATCH #California pic.twitter.com/AdeGrjVFLu
— Online24x7 (@ComOnline24x7) November 2, 2024
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