I’m sure by now everyone has heard the term “black hole” but what actually is a black hole? Black holes are one of the most well known phenomena in space, but there is a lot we still do not know about them. Many people think of a black hole as a huge hole that moves through space gobbling up everything in sight. This definition has some correct information but there is a lot more to it.
How does a black hole form? Many scientists believe that a black hole forms when a star collapses. When the star collapses a black hole is formed from the remains of the star. If these remains are dense enough theoretically it can form a black hole. The idea behind a black hole existing is that black hole is dense enough so that its gravity sucks everything up around it. Einstein’s equations for general relativity show that if the core of a collapsed star is more than 3 times the mass of our sun then the gravity that the core produces is strong enough to form a black hole. For the readers who are wondering if our sun will become a black hole the answer is no. Our sun does not have a sufficient mass to become a black hole. The force of gravity that a black hole emits is so strong that it even sucks up light. Unfortunately scientists cannot observe black holes because telescopes that detect certain forms of light can no longer be able to see that light.
Can I go close to a black hole? Nobody has ever been inside of a black hole and we do not know what it contains. Theoretically however you can stay on the edge of a black hole where you can infinitely rotate around it. A black hole cannot suck up the entire universe either because for that to happen it would need infinite mass to produce the infinite gravity necessary for that.
Scientists believe that black holes come in 2 sizes. One size of the black hole would be black holes that are made from the cores of stars and the other size would be supermassive black holes. Scientists have theorized that at the center of every galaxy, ex. The Milky Way, there is a supermassive black hole. Now this would make sense because as previously stated theoretically if you were on the edge of a black hole you could infinitely be rotating around it similar to our Earth and the Sun. This could mean that our entire galaxy would just be revolving around another body. You may be asking, “How do we know if there is a black hole?”. The answer is quite simple. Since we cannot observe a black hole itself we simply just observe the objects around the black hole. This is how scientists can make academically sound inferences on black holes. Although there are many mysteries surrounding black holes, they are certainly a fascinating topic which we hope to learn more about in the future.
Sources
Dunbar, Brian. “What Is a Black Hole?” NASA, NASA, 21 May 2015, www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-a-black-hole-k4.html.
Mischa. “Black Hole Truths, Myths and Mysteries.” Curious, 26 Sept. 2017, www.science.org.au/curious/space-time/black-holes.
NASA. “Black Holes.” NASA, NASA, science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/black-holes.