Luna Learns Things

02/11/20

Black Hole

A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, no particles or even electromagnetic radiation such as light, can escape from it. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can deform spacetime to form a black hole.

You might expect to get crushed, or maybe torn to pieces if you were to enter a blackhole. But the reality is stranger than that. The instant you entered the black hole, reality would split in two. In one, you would be instantly incinerated, and in the other you would plunge on into the black hole utterly unharmed.

Stellar black holes are made when the center of a very big star falls in upon itself, or collapses. When this happens, it causes a supernova. A supernova is an exploding star that blasts part of the star into space. Scientists think supermassive black holes were made at the same time as the galaxy they are in.

Have black holes had any influence on our planet? Stellar-mass black holes are left behind when a massive star explodes. These explosions distribute elements such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen that are necessary for life into space.

Black holes have gravitational fields so strong that even light cannot escape, so they are defined by the shell of a black, featureless sphere called an event horizon. But the holes can nevertheless be seen. As they consume matter that strays too close, they squeeze it into a superheated disk of glowing gas.

Black holes have gravitational fields so strong that even light cannot escape, so they are defined by the shell of a black, featureless sphere called an event horizon. But the holes can nevertheless be seen. As they consume matter that strays too close, they squeeze it into a superheated disk of glowing gas.

Eruptions from enormous black holes aren't uncommon. The explosions are powered by the release of pent-up energy in encircling disks of hot gas. But the team notes that this newfound eruption is thousands of times more powerful than most.

Black holes are about 78 billion miles which is quite massive. For perspective, that's about 40% the size of our solar system, according to some estimates. And it's estimated to be about 21 billion times the mass of our sun. So there you have it, black holes can be millions of times larger than suns and planets or as small as a city.