Matter as we know it exists because forces such as the electromagnetic force and others keep the subatomic particles apart, while gravity constantly pulls them together. These create a balance which allows subatomic structures to retain their shape and structures. In extreme circumstances, however, if there is enough matter in a small enough space, gravity ends up winning, and the matter collapses: electrons cannot stay distant from the atomic nucleus, and incredibly dense matter forms (sometimes called neutronium). Eventually, even this dense matter cannot maintain its structure and collapses into itself further. In a way that can be hard to imagine, nothing can stop this collapse if enough matter gets into a small enough space, and the matter collapses to a point of zero height, width, and depth, known as a singularity, in which the matter is so dense it is no longer "matter" in any real sense, but some kind of anomaly in space. Anything that gets too close to this singularity will also collapse into it the same way, whether it is matter, energy or even light itself, which is the fastest thing in the universe. The failure of even light to escape its gravitational well is how the phenomenon initially acquired the name black hole. The event horizon is the name given to the invisible 'dividing line' in space where matter or energy will be unavoidably drawn into the black hole.
It was later found that energy can escape from black holes in an unexpected way, and that therefore black holes can evaporate. In space, virtual particles are continually coming into existence and vanishing on a microscopic scale that is so small they cannot easily be detected. This is a consequence of quantum physics and only works on a subatomic scale. Conceptually, these particles can be imagined to appear in pairs and vanish a tiny fraction of a second later again. For this reason they are not readily noticed. But close to the black hole's event horizon, the intense gravitational field separates the two particles even in the fractional second that they exist. One particle may be absorbed into the black hole, the other escapes. From an external perspective all that is seen is the second of these, giving the appearance of energy being radiated outward, escaping from its gravitational field beyond the event horizon. In this way, paradoxically, black holes can evaporate. This process is thought to be significant for the very smallest black holes, as a black hole of stellar mass or larger would absorb more energy from cosmic microwave background radiation than they lose this way. The radiation emitted is referred to as Hawking radiation.
Black holes generally come in two types; those with a mass up to ten times the mass of our Sun, and those with a mass that is millions or billions of times that of our sun. The latter are called supermassive black holes, and are thought to exist at the centers of galaxies.[3] Micro black holes are believed to be possible but very short-lived, capable of creation under extreme circumstances such as the Big Bang or perhaps by very high powered particle accelerators or ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
2007-01-01 22:29:51
·
answer #1
·
answered by tnbadbunny 5
·
0⤊
1⤋
You could throw a baseball higher on the moon than the earth because the moon is smaller, has less mass and its gravity is weaker. A black hole is a star so massive that all matter (atoms and molecules) are crushed under their own weight into a point like the period at the end of this sentence called a singularity. The gravity is so strong that if you could point a flashlight into the sky there, the photons of light would rise and fall like baseballs rather than escape. No light can escape and the spot surrounding the black hole naturally appears to be black, the absence of light. Of course a person or flashlight entering the black hole would be torn apart by tidal forces and the experiment could not even be tried.
2007-01-02 07:29:11
·
answer #2
·
answered by Kes 7
·
0⤊
0⤋
When stars die, all their hydrogen gets converted into helium. Big stars convert into blackholes when they die. It is a hole having a very very strong Gravitational energy. Anything which passes from near the blackhole is attracted inside it. Even light is not able to escape from the Gravitational field of the black hole. Anything which goes inside gets destroyed.
2007-01-02 08:17:32
·
answer #3
·
answered by shailendra s 3
·
0⤊
0⤋
Loosely speaking, a black hole is a region of space that has so much mass concentrated in it that there is no way for a nearby object to escape its gravitational pull.
Black holes are one thing that truly massive stars become when they run out of fuel and die. (Only stars that have masses more than three times that of our Sun can become black holes.) Some of these massive stars explode into extremely bright supernovae. Some supernovae completely blow up and leave nothing behind. But the cores of others collapse back on themselves, and all the stuff in them compacts together real tight. These become either neutron stars or black holes, depending on how massive their condensed cores are.
2007-01-02 06:37:50
·
answer #4
·
answered by lovelymiracle 2
·
0⤊
0⤋
check your spelling and grammar
A black hole or a Quantum singularity is a massive star. It contains a huge amount of matter (hence massive) but isn't very large (it is compressed)
Because of this it's gravity is very strong but focused on a small space, making it even more powerful. It is so powerful that light cannot escape it, because of this is appears dark. The term hole comes from the idea that objects getting too close cannot escape and are drawn in to be crushed by the massive gravity.
2007-01-02 06:30:30
·
answer #5
·
answered by jleslie4585 5
·
1⤊
0⤋
black hole is remains of stars which have so much gravitational force that they can even trap light passing through them.yes.they dont allow even to pass light .acc.to scientist ,a black hole is travelling towards our solar system and one day(million yrs. after),sun may be engulfed.it"s quite intresting to know that it is greatest gravitational force existing in universe.it can take up anything.....just anything and keep on moving in universe..........
2007-01-02 06:29:39
·
answer #6
·
answered by ppp 1
·
0⤊
0⤋
it a hole that pulls in stars ,any thing close by it,s like a grave vac, it gets full ,it let,s go light gets pushed out over million of light years , we don,t know all yet but we working on it. and you can look on NASA web
2007-01-02 06:37:34
·
answer #7
·
answered by rocketman 3
·
0⤊
0⤋
I personally think a Black Hole is a doorway to another dimention.
2007-01-02 13:16:03
·
answer #8
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
There isn't one.
Black holes are theoretical entities that do not exist!
2007-01-02 06:57:12
·
answer #9
·
answered by Billy Butthead 7
·
0⤊
2⤋
there is one in the back of Uranus.
2007-01-02 06:29:21
·
answer #10
·
answered by higg1966 5
·
0⤊
5⤋