Can comets get sucked into black holes?

Question

Its for my high school report, do you know the answer?

Answer 1

Yes and no.

Yes, because a black hole can suck in anything. A black hole will suck in EVERYTHING. NOTHING can escape the gravitational pull of a black hole, even light. As you know, light is pure energy, and nothing can exceed the speed of light. The black hole is simply a region in space without physical boundary. It is that region where not even light has enough momentum to escape the gravitational pull. Of course, something like a comet would be fatally trapped much further away. It would only be a matter of time before it was pulled in. But within the black hole itself, known as the "event horizon", absolutely nothing can escape.

So why no? Simply put, every comet we know of is trapped around the sun, and there are no black holes near us. We do not know where the closest black hole is, but there isn't the slightest indication there's one near us at all (you would see the gravitational effects if one were close). So no, since there are no black holes near the sun, and since all comets are near the sun, a comet is not likely to be sucked in.

But the question you asked is if it was possible, and the answer is yes, within the event horizon the Black Hole consumes all.

Answer 2

It isn't that simple. I will pose a question. If the sun became a black hole without changing its mass, what would happen to Earth's orbit? The correct answer: nothing. The idea of something being sucked into a black hole is a bit misrepresented. An object's gravitational force relates to its mass. That being said, it is unlikely that a black hole would change a comet's fixed orbit. An object in space can even orbit a black hole without fear of being sucked into it. If you did directly cross paths with a black hole, however, you would invariably succumb to its force of gravity just like you would if you became too near Earth. You would fall towards that object. There is no difference here. The problem lies that if you were being sucked into Earth, you could cancel out this gravitational force by exceeding Earth's escape velocity, this, however, can't be done if you are falling into a black hole because once you pass the event horizon, not even an object moving at the speed of light can escape, that is, a black hole's escape velocity exceeds the speed of light; therefore light can't escape, thus the name: black hole. Put simply, objects tend to fall into orbit with objects with great mass, that is, gravitational force, before they collide with them; therefore, it is unlikely that a comet would get sucked into a black hole. If one did, however, get too near a black hole, it would get sucked in, what happens from there is anyone's guess. Since light can't escape, it is impossible to measure what occurs past the event horizon in a black hole. It is theorized that a black hole is a small in radius, but very massive object and one could assume that a comet would become part of this object if it were dragged in by its force. I hope this all made sense.

Answer 3

Anything that gets too close to a black hole will fall in.
That said, it cannot happen to the comets that we can see, as those are part of out solar system, and the closest identified black hole is 1600 light years away.
The Oort clod, the hypothetical reservoir of comets, is thought to extent to perhaps 2 light years from the sun at the most.

Answer 4

Yes. Comets have mass, comets respond to gravity (they follow elliptical orbits around starts) so they can be sucked into the intense strength of a black hole's gravity.

Answer 5

It depends. Remember comets revolve around stars? If the star it orbits around dies and turns into a black hole, the comet is sucked in.

Answer 6

I'd assume that anything can get sucked into a black hole. The reason why it's black is because all the light waves also get sucked into it.

Answer 7

since even electromagnetic radiation gets sucked into black holes, i shud assume that comets would get sucked into a black hole as well.

Answer 8

Black Holes have the potential to swallow an entire galaxy. If your report is on black holes, I'd suggest you look up the terms "gravity well" and "event horizon"

Answer 9

comets don't come around that much toward earth . Look at the Halley comet, it took came when Mark Twain was 4 and came back during the year he died he died,

Answer 10

even light is bent while passing a black hole