What exactly are stars, shooting stars and black holes (are there any black holes in the Milky Way)?

Answer 1

stars are big balls of gas, shooting stars are meteorites entering Earth's atmosphere and burning up, and black holes are theoretical objects where gravity is so immense even light doesn't escape. They aren't sure if there are black holes at all.

Answer 2

A star is a mass of incandescent gas; a gigantic nuclear furnace where hydrogen is changed into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees.

A shoting 'star' is a meteor burning up in the Earth's atmosphere as it falls.

A black hole is one of the ways a star can die. If a star is big enough, when it finally blows up (due to running out of light elements that can be converted into heavier elements) it will explode outward in a supernova and the inward parts, compressed by the explosion, will become so dense that nothing, not even light, can escape. That is a black hole.

It is believed that there is a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and there are probably other, smaller ones as well. That is why it is a spiral galaxy: we are all getting flushed down the cosmic poop chute.

Answer 3

Stars: Objects of great mass which are mainly made of Hydrogen, the pressure due to the gravity of the star create a chain reaction which give out light, heat and other electromagnetic waves.

Shooting stars: These are small rocks and dust falling into Earth from space.

Black holes: Stars that fell apart after their death, black holes took their name because they don't emit any electromagnetic waves thus they are invisible. This happens because they black holes are objects of great mass, which got concentrated into just a few kilometers creating a huge gravitational field in and around the black hole.

And yes there are numerous known black holes in the Milky Way, The biggest of all probably at exactly in the center of the Galaxy.

Answer 4

Stars are balls of gas and matter in a process of nuclear fusion. Falling stars are meteorites that make it through the atmosphere. And black holes are extremely dense gravity fields (though presumed to be spherical in shape) but their existence is as yet unproven. It is believed nonetheless that the center of our galaxy is an enormous black hole. There are even outlandish theories that say that the center of the sun could well be a black hole but also do some mention the same for Earth. It's not totally strange because the density of most large celestial objects increases when you get closer to their cores. Also if this is true it would have strange but simple implications on the working of gravity and even why it is there.

Another funny use of black holes (or singularities) is that if they exist is that they could be used for time travel! It is theorized that black holes reverse the space and time components of normal space time. In other words space stretches singularly like we experience time more or less and time unfolds in dimensions. So black holes even tug time and make it act in unthinkable ways really. So why not time travel?

Answer 5

A star is a massive, compact body of plasma in outer space that is currently producing or has produced energy through nuclear fusion. The most familiar and closest star to the Earth is the Sun. Unlike a planet, from which most light is reflected, a star emits light because of its intense heat.

Bright stars are bright because they have high luminosities and/or they are nearby. Below are the 90 brightest individual stars as seen from Earth in visible wavelengths (apparent magnitude less than or equal to +2.50).

A meteor is the visible path of a meteoroid that enters the Earth's (or another body's) atmosphere, commonly called a shooting star or falling star. If a meteoroid survives its transit of the atmosphere to come to rest on the surface, the resulting object is called a meteorite. A meteor striking the Earth or other object may produce an impact crater.

A black hole is a region of space-time with such a concentration of mass that its gravitational field is extremely strong to the point that no material particle can escape from it. Black holes are predicted by general relativity. Under the description provided by general relativity, as an object moves closer to a black hole, the energy required for it to escape continues to increase until it becomes infinite at the event horizon, the surface beyond which the escape is impossible. Inside the event horizon, the geometry of spacetime is distorted in a way that moving closer to the central singularity is inevitable no matter how the infalling object moves.

The existence of black holes in the universe is well supported by astronomical observation, particularly from studying X-ray emission from X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei.

From observations in the 1980s of motions of stars around the galactic centre, it is now believed that such supermassive black holes exist in the centre of most galaxies, including our own Milky Way. Sagittarius A* is now generally agreed to be the location of a supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.

Answer 6

Stars are large spheres of mostly hydrogen that produce energy by the process known as fusion where two atoms of hydrogen fuse together to form helium and release energy.

Black holes are large stars that have used up their fuel (hydrogen) and have collapsed in upon themselves because of gravity. The resulting ball of matter is so compressed that it's gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Yes, there are black holes in our Milky Way Galaxy.

Shooting stars are not stars but meteors that have entered the Earth's atmosphere at a high velocity and are burned by friction.

Answer 7

Stars are big balls of gas that burn (fission and fusion).

Shooting Stars are usually about the size of 2 to 3 grains of sand and burn up in the high in the sky because they are traveling very fast (way faster than a bullet).

Black holes were once stars that were very large. When they exploded (super nova), part of them collapsed and became so dense that their gravity keeps nearly everything from escaping (including light). Since light can't escape, they can't shine, and therefore are "black".

Most galaxies (including our Milky way) are believed to have a black hole in the center. One of the first observed was called Cygnus X-1.

Answer 8

A typical star is massive body of hydrogen that shines by "burning" its hydrogen into helium. Our sun is a star that weighs 300,000 times as much as Earth and converts 4 thousand million tonnes of matter into Emery every second!

A"shooting star" or meteor is a comparatively small stony or metallic object, some as small as a speck of dust, that burn up in our atmosphere in a fiery finale we call a shooting star. If large enough, they can survive and reach the ground - a meteorite. A very large meteor, perhaps some kilometres across, is thought to have wiped out dinosaurs.

A black hole is thought to form when a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses into something so dense, that not even light can escape - hence the rather apt name.

Answer 9

Yes there are black holes in the Milky Way and the biggest is in my bank balance! Sorry, I jest. Just Google any of the topics you've mentioned and you can spend a lifetime learning. Can recommend NASA TV as a great site for live shuttle and ISS (International Space Station) news

heavenlyhaggis

Answer 10

stars - bodies made of helium wich emit light.
shooting stars - no such thing in science..basically the meteors and meteriotrites entering the earths atmosphere which catch fire due to friction with the earth's atmosphere.
black holes - when some stars die they explode and contract into a very small mass with 2much gravitational force..so strong that even light cnt escape frm it..yes there are numerous black holes in the milky way.