essay titles about black holes

Black Holes

Black holes are some of the most fascinating and mind-bending objects in the cosmos. The very thing that characterizes a black hole also makes it hard to study: its intense gravity. All the mass in a black hole is concentrated in a tiny region, surrounded by a boundary called the “event horizon”. Nothing that crosses that boundary can return to the outside universe, not even light. A black hole itself is invisible.

But astronomers can still observe black holes indirectly by the way their gravity affects stars and pulls matter into orbit. As gas flows around a black hole, it heats up, paradoxically making these invisible objects into some of the brightest things in the entire universe. As a result, we can see some black holes from billions of light-years away. For one large black hole in a nearby galaxy, astronomers even managed to see a ring of light around the event horizon, using a globe-spanning array of powerful telescopes.

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists participate in many black hole-related projects:

Using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) to capture the first image of a black hole’s “shadow”: the absence of light that marks where the event horizon is located. The EHT is composed of many telescopes working together to create one Earth-sized observatory , all monitoring the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87, leading to the first image ever captured of a black hole. CfA Plays Central Role In Capturing Landmark Black Hole Image

Observing supermassive black holes in other galaxies to understand how they evolve and shape their host galaxies. CfA astronomers use telescopes across the entire spectrum of light, from radio waves to X-rays to gamma rays. A Surprising Blazar Connection Revealed

Studying the infall of matter — called “accretion” — onto black holes, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. In addition, CfA researchers use cutting-edge supercomputers to create theoretical models for the disks and jets of matter that black holes create around themselves. Supermassive Black Hole Spins Super-Fast

Hunting for black hole interactions with other astronomical objects. That includes “disruption” events, where black holes tear stars or other objects apart, creating bursts of intense light. Black Hole Meal Sets Record for Length and Size

Observing clusters of stars to find intermediate mass black holes, and modeling how they shape their environments. A Middleweight Black Hole is Hiding at the Center of a Giant Star Cluster

Hunting for and characterizing stellar mass black holes, which can include information about their birth process and evolution. NASA's Chandra Adds to Black Hole Birth Announcement

The Varieties of Black Holes

Black holes come in three categories:

Stellar Mass Black Holes are born from the death of stars much more massive than the Sun. When some of these stars run out of the nuclear fuel that makes them shine, their cores collapse into black holes under their own gravity. Other stellar mass black holes form from the collision of neutron stars , such as the ones first detected by LIGO and Virgo in 2017. These are probably the most common black holes in the cosmos, but are hard to detect unless they have an ordinary star for a companion. When that happens, the black hole can strip material from the star, causing the gas to heat up and glow brightly in X-rays.

Supermassive Black Holes are the monsters of the universe, living at the centers of nearly every galaxy. They range in mass from 100,000 to billions of times the mass of the Sun, far too massive to be born from a single star. The Milky Way’s black hole is about 4 million times the Sun’s mass, putting it in the middle of the pack. In the form of quasars and other “active” galaxies , these black holes can shine brightly enough to be seen from billions of light-years away. Understanding when these black holes formed and how they grow is a major area of research. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists are part of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, which captured the first-ever image of the black hole: the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87.

Intermediate Mass Black Holes are the most mysterious, since we’ve hardly seen any of them yet. They weigh 100 to 10,000 times the mass of the Sun, putting them between stellar and supermassive black holes. We don’t know exactly how many of these are, and like supermassive black holes, we don’t fully understand how they’re born or grow. However, studying them could tell us a lot about how the most supermassive black holes came to be.

Black holes can seem bizarre and incomprehensible, but in truth they’re remarkably understandable. Despite not being able to see black holes directly, we know quite a bit about them. They are …

Simple . All three black hole types can be described by just two observable quantities: their mass and how fast they spin. That’s much simpler than a star, for example, which in addition to mass is a product of its unique history and evolution , including its chemical makeup. Mass and spin tell us everything we need to know about a black hole: it “forgets” everything that went into making it. Those two quantities determine how big the event horizon is, and the way gravity affects any matter falling onto the black hole.

Compact . Black holes are tiny compared to their mass. The event horizon of a black hole the mass of the Sun would be no more than 6 kilometers across, and the faster it spins, the smaller that size is. Even a supermassive black hole would fit easily inside our Solar System.

Powerful . The combination of large mass and small size results in very strong gravity. This gravity is strong enough to pull a star apart if it gets too close, producing powerful bursts of light. A supermassive black hole heats gas falling onto it to temperatures of millions of degrees, making it glow brightly enough in X-rays and other types of radiation to be seen across the universe.

Very common . From theoretical calculations based on observations, astronomers think the Milky Way might have as many as a hundred million black holes, most of which are stellar mass. And with at least one supermassive black hole in most galaxies, there could be hundreds of billions of supermassive black holes in the observable universe.

Very important . Black holes have a reputation for eating everything that comes by, but they turn out to be messy eaters. A lot of stuff that falls toward a black hole gets jetted away, thanks to the complicated churning of gas near the event horizon. These jets and outflows of gas called “winds” spread atoms throughout the galaxy, and can either boost or throttle the birth of new stars, depending on other factors. That means supermassive black holes play an important role in the life of galaxies, even far beyond the black hole’s gravitational pull.

And yes, mysterious . Along with astronomers, physicists are interested in black holes because they’re a laboratory for “quantum gravity”. Black holes are described by Albert Einstein’s general relativity, which is our modern theory of gravity, but the other forces of nature are described by quantum physics. So far, nobody has developed a complete quantum gravity theory, but we already know black holes will be an important test of any proposed theory.

The first image of a black hole in human history, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, showing light emitted by matter as it swirls under the influence of intense gravity. This black hole is 6.5 billion times the mass of the Sun and resides at the center of the galaxy M87.

• What do black holes look like?
• What happens to space time when cosmic objects collide?
• The Energetic Universe
• The Milky Way Galaxy
• Extragalactic Astronomy
• Stellar Astronomy
• Theoretical Astrophysics
• Einstein's Theory of Gravitation
• Radio and Geoastronomy

Related News

Black hole fashions stellar beads on a string, m87* one year later: proof of a persistent black hole shadow, unexpectedly massive black holes dominate small galaxies in the distant universe, unveiling black hole spins using polarized radio glasses, a supermassive black hole’s strong magnetic fields are revealed in a new light, nasa telescopes discover record-breaking black hole, new horizons in physics breakthrough prize awarded to cfa astrophysicist, cfa selects contractor for next generation event horizon telescope antennas, sheperd doeleman awarded the 2023 georges lemaître international prize, brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed reveals new mysteries of cosmic explosions, dasch (digital access to a sky century @ harvard), sensing the dynamic universe, champ (chandra multiwavelength project) and champlane (chandra multiwavelength plane) survey, telescopes and instruments, einstein observatory, event horizon telescope (eht), large aperture experiment to explore the dark ages (leda), the greenland telescope, very energetic radiation imaging telescope array system (veritas).

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Generally speaking, a black hole is a space object possessing extreme density; its mass is so enormous, and the respective gravitational attraction is so powerful, that even light cannot escape its trap. This is why they are called ‘black holes’—you cannot see them without special devices, since there is no light in the point where a black hole is. The first person to have predicted this phenomena was Albert Einstein, and the term ‘black hole’ appeared in 1967, introduced by the American astronomer John Wheeler. But, only in 1971 was the first black hole discovered (Space.com).

But how do black holes appear? Science offers us the following explanation: when a large star burns the last of its ‘fuel,’ it may start collapsing under its own mass , falling in on itself until it shrinks to an object much smaller than the original star, but with the same mass—the stellar black hole ( Space.com ).

No one knows exactly what is going on inside black holes. A popular science-fiction topic (raised in the recent film ‘Interstellar,’ for example) refers to what happens if somebody falls into a black hole. Some believe black holes to be the predicted wormholes to other parts of the Universe. Others make less fantastic suggestions. Either way, what is truly amazing about black holes is how they distort time and space. If a person ‘falls’ into a black hole, for an outsider, the movement of this person will be slowing down, unless it finally freezes ( universetoday.com ). Moreover, according to Stephen Hawking, the incredible gravity of a black hole will be endlessly stretching this person in length. However, for the person ‘falling’ into a black hole, time will seem to pass as usual—and, respectively, this person will not notice any spacial distortions either.

Another popular question is, “What happens if a black hole gets too close to Earth?” Black holes do not move around space. Nothing bad will happen to Earth, because no black hole is close enough to the solar system to consume our planet. However, if theoretically a black hole, possessing the same mass as the sun, took its place, nothing would happen anyways. The same mass means the same gravity, so the planets of the Solar System would keep orbiting the black hole as if nothing had happened ( nasa.gov ).

Black holes are quite the space phenomenon, with its properties being mysterious. Although predicted and described a century ago, they still possess one of the biggest conundrums for scientists. Originating from collapsed stars, black holes possess such an enormous gravity that they are able to distort time and space. However, as scientists claim, Earth is not in danger—yet.

Redd, Nola Taylor. “What is a Black Hole?” Space.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2015.

“10 Amazing Facts about Black Holes.” Universe Today. N.p., 22 Jan. 2015. Web. 10 Aug. 2015.

Dunbar, Brian. “What is a Black Hole?” NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2015.

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Essay on Black Holes

Students are often asked to write an essay on Black Holes in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Black Holes

Introduction to black holes.

Black Holes are places in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from it. Imagine a star ten times more massive than the Sun squeezed into a sphere approximately the diameter of New York City. The result is a gravitational field so strong that nothing can escape from it.

Formation of Black Holes

Black holes are formed from the remnants of large stars. When such a star has burned out its fuel, it explodes into a supernova. What’s left collapses under its own gravity, forming a black hole.

The Event Horizon

The edge of a black hole is called the event horizon. If anything crosses this line, it can’t get back out again because the gravitational pull is too strong. It’s like the ultimate one-way street – once you go in, you can’t come out.

Types of Black Holes

There are three types of black holes: stellar, supermassive, and intermediate. Stellar black holes are small but incredibly dense. Supermassive black holes are found at the center of galaxies, including our own Milky Way. Intermediate black holes are in between the other two in terms of size.

Black Holes and Space-Time

Black holes warp space-time, which is a way to think about the fabric of the universe. Space-time is like a trampoline. If you put something heavy on it, it sinks. That’s what a black hole does – it makes a deep hole in space-time.

250 Words Essay on Black Holes

What are black holes.

Black holes are fascinating objects in space. They are areas where gravity is so strong, that nothing can escape from it, not even light. This is why we call them “black” holes. They are like giant space vacuums that suck in everything close enough to them.

How are Black Holes Formed?

Black holes are formed when a big star dies. This happens in a huge explosion called a supernova. After the explosion, what’s left of the star collapses in on itself because of gravity, creating a black hole. It’s like squishing a giant star into a tiny spot.

There are three types of black holes. The smallest ones are called ‘Stellar’. They are up to 20 times bigger than the sun. The medium ones are ‘Intermediate’ black holes. The biggest ones are ‘Supermassive’ black holes. They are millions or even billions of times bigger than the sun. Scientists believe there is a supermassive black hole at the center of every galaxy, including ours.

Can We See Black Holes?

We can’t see black holes directly because they don’t let light out. But we can see how they affect things around them. For example, if a black hole is pulling on a star, the star might move in a weird way. Or, if a black hole is eating up material from around it, that material might glow very brightly. So, we can find black holes by looking for these signs.

Black holes are one of the most exciting mysteries in space. Even though they are scary to think about, they are also very interesting, and scientists are always trying to learn more about them.

500 Words Essay on Black Holes

Black holes are a fascinating part of our universe. They are places where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape, not even light. This is why we call them “black” holes. It’s like they have swallowed up everything around them. They are formed when a large star runs out of fuel and collapses under its own weight.

Stars are like giant factories that make light and heat by burning hydrogen fuel in a process called nuclear fusion. But when a star has used up all its fuel, it can’t hold itself up anymore. The star’s outer layers explode out into space in a brilliant event called a supernova. What’s left collapses inwards, and if the star was big enough, it becomes a black hole.

What’s Inside a Black Hole?

What’s inside a black hole is a mystery. Because no light can get out, we can’t see what’s happening inside. Some scientists think that at the very center of a black hole is a point called a singularity, where gravity is infinitely strong and space and time stop making sense. But we don’t really know for sure.

How do We Know Black Holes Exist?

Even though we can’t see black holes, we can find them by looking at the things around them. For example, if a star is moving in a strange way, it might be because there’s a black hole nearby. The black hole’s strong gravity is pulling on the star. We can also find black holes by looking for powerful jets of energy and matter shooting out from around them.

Are Black Holes Dangerous?

Black holes sound scary, but they’re not really a danger to us. They’re very far away and their gravity only affects things that are very close to them. So, even though black holes are amazing and a little bit scary, we don’t need to worry about them swallowing up our planet.

Black Holes and Science Fiction

Black holes are often featured in science fiction stories. They’re used as gateways to other universes, time machines, or even superweapons. But in real life, black holes are not like this. They’re just a part of the universe, like stars and galaxies.

In conclusion, black holes are one of the most intriguing and mysterious phenomena in the universe. They are formed from the remnants of massive stars and have such strong gravity that nothing can escape from them. Despite their portrayal in science fiction, black holes are not a threat to Earth, but rather distant and fascinating objects of scientific study.

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1 (page 1) p. 1 What is a black hole?

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A black hole is a region of space where the force of gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can travel fast enough to escape from its interior. ‘What is a black hole?’ outlines how they were first conceived by theoretical physicists such as John Michell, Henry Cavendish, Pierre-Simon Laplace, and Albert Einstein, and explains the concepts of singularity, escape velocity, the event horizon, and spacetime. Black holes have now been identified in the Universe in their hundreds and accounted for in their millions. Although invisible, these objects interact with and influence their surroundings in different ways depending on proximity relative to the black hole.

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• 14 March 2024

Do black holes explode? The 50-year-old puzzle that challenges quantum physics

• Davide Castelvecchi

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Fifty years after Stephen Hawking’s seminal paper, it remains unclear what happens to information swallowed by black holes. Credit: EHT Collaboration

In hindsight, it seems prophetic that the title of a Nature paper published on 1 March 1974 ended with a question mark: “Black hole explosions?” Stephen Hawking’s landmark idea about what is now known as Hawking radiation 1 has just turned 50. The more physicists have tried to test his theory over the past half-century, the more questions have been raised — with profound consequences for how we view the workings of reality.

In essence, what Hawking, who died six years ago today, found is that black holes should not be truly black, because they constantly radiate a tiny amount of heat. That conclusion came from basic principles of quantum physics, which imply that even empty space is a far-from-uneventful place. Instead, space is filled with roiling quantum fields in which pairs of ‘virtual’ particles incessantly pop out of nowhere and, under normal conditions, annihilate each other almost instantaneously.

However, at an event horizon, the spherical surface that defines the boundary of a black hole, something different happens. An event horizon represents a gravitational point of no return that can be crossed only inward, and Hawking realized that there two virtual particles can become separated. One of them falls into the black hole, while the other radiates away, carrying some of the energy with it. As a result, the black hole loses a tiny bit of mass and shrinks — and shines.

Unexpected ramifications

The power of Hawking’s 1974 paper lies in how it combined basic principles from the two pillars of modern physics. The first, Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity — in which black holes manifest themselves — links gravity to the shape of space and time, and is typically relevant only at large scales. The second, quantum physics, tends to show up in microscopic situations. The two theories seem to be mathematically incompatible, and physicists have long struggled to find ways to reconcile them. Hawking showed that the event horizon of a black hole is a rare place where both theories must play a part, with calculable consequences.

Science mourns Stephen Hawking’s death

And profoundly unsettling ones at that, as quickly became apparent. The random nature of Hawking radiation means that it carries no information whatsoever. As Hawking soon realized 2 , this means that black holes slowly erase any information about anything that falls in, both when the black hole originally forms and subsequently as it grows — in apparent contradiction to the laws of quantum mechanics, which say that information can never be destroyed. This conundrum became known as the black-hole information paradox.

It has since turned out that black holes should not be the only things that produce Hawking radiation. Any observer accelerating through space could, in principle, pick up similar radiation from empty space 3 . And other analogues of black-hole shine abound in nature. For example, physicists have shown that in a moving medium, sound waves trying to move upstream seem to behave just as Hawking predicted. Some researchers hope that these experiments could provide hints as to how to solve the paradox.

A scientific wager

In the 1990s, the black-hole information paradox became the subject of a celebrated bet. Hawking, together with Kip Thorne at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, proposed that quantum mechanics would ultimately need to be amended to take Hawking radiation into account. Another Caltech theoretical physicist, John Preskill, maintained that information would be found to somehow be preserved, and that quantum mechanics would be saved.

But in 1997, theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena, who is now at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, came up with an idea that indicated Hawking and Thorne might be wrong 4 . His paper now has more than 24,000 citations, even more than the 7,000 or so times Hawking’s paper has been cited. Maldacena suggested that the Universe — including the black holes it contains — is a type of hologram, a higher-dimensional projection of events that occur on a flat surface. Everything that happens on the flat world can be described by pure quantum mechanics, and so preserves information.

Stephen Hawking worked on the black-hole information paradox throughout his life. Credit: Santi Visalli/Getty

At face value, Maldacena’s theory doesn’t fully apply to the type of Universe that we inhabit. Moreover, it did not explain how information could escape destruction in a black hole — only that it should, somehow. “We don’t have a concrete grasp of the mechanism,” says Preskill. Physicists, including Hawking , have proposed countless escape mechanisms, none of which has been completely convincing, according to Preskill. “Here it is, 50 years after that great paper, and we’re still puzzled,” he says. (Maldacena’s ideas were enough to change Hawking’s mind, however, and he conceded the bet in 2004.)

A quantum conundrum

Attempts to solve the information paradox have grown into a thriving industry. One of the ideas that has gained traction is that each particle that falls into a black hole is linked to one that stays outside through quantum entanglement — the ability of objects to share a single quantum state even when far apart. This connection could manifest itself in the geometry of space-time as a ‘wormhole’ joining the inside of the event horizon with the outside.

Entanglement is also one of the crucial features that make quantum computers potentially more powerful than classical ones. Moreover, in the past decade, the link between black holes and information theory has become only stronger, as Preskill and others have investigated similarities between what happens in holographic projections and the types of error-correction algorithm developed for quantum computers. Error correction is a way of storing redundant information that enables a computer — whether classical or quantum — to restore corrupted bits of information. Some researchers see quantum computation theory as the key to solving Hawking’s paradox. When creating a black hole, the Universe could be similarly storing several versions of its information — some inside the event horizon, some outside — so that the destruction of the black hole does not erase any history.

Hawking’s latest black-hole paper splits physicists

But other researchers think that the full resolution of the information paradox might have to wait until another big problem is solved — that of reconciling gravity with quantum physics. Hawking continued working on the problem almost up until his death, but with no clear outcome .

As for the title of Hawking’s paper, seeing actual black-hole explosions is a possibility that astronomers take seriously. Large black holes act like very cold bodies, but smaller ones are hotter, which makes them shrink faster; and the particles they shed should become more and more energetic, reaching a culmination when the black hole disappears. Hawking showed that ‘ordinary’ stellar-mass black holes, which form when massive stars collapse in on themselves at the end of their lives, take many times longer than the age of the Universe to get to this point. But, in principle, black holes with a range of smaller masses could have formed from random fluctuations in the density of matter during the first moments after the Big Bang. If a primordial black hole of the right mass were to fizzle into non-existence somewhere near the Solar System, it could be picked up by neutrino and γ-ray observatories.

Astronomers have not seen any black holes explode so far, but they are still on the lookout 5 . Such an observation would have certainly earned Hawking the Nobel Prize that eluded him all his life. As it is, the questions produced by his simple, inquisitive paper title look set to nourish the intersection between cosmology and physics for a good few years yet.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00768-4

Hawking, S. W. Nature 248 , 30–31 (1974).

Article   Google Scholar  

Hawking, S. W. Phys. Rev. D 14 , 2460–2473 (1976).

Unruh, W. G. Phys. Rev. D 14 , 870–892 (1976).

Maldacena, J. Adv. Theor. Math. Phys. 2 , 231–252 (1998).

The IceCube Collaboration. In Proc. 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2019) Vol. 358, article 863 (2019).

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What are black holes.

Francis Reddy

A black hole is an astronomical object with a gravitational pull so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape it. A black hole’s “surface,” called its event horizon, defines the boundary where the velocity needed to escape exceeds the speed of light, which is the speed limit of the cosmos. Matter and radiation fall in, but they can’t get out.

Two main classes of black holes have been extensively observed. Stellar-mass black holes with three to dozens of times the Sun’s mass are spread throughout our Milky Way galaxy, while supermassive monsters weighing 100,000 to billions of solar masses are found in the centers of most big galaxies, ours included.

Astronomers had long suspected an in-between class called intermediate-mass black holes, weighing 100 to more than 10,000 solar masses. While a handful of candidates have been identified with indirect evidence, the most convincing example to date came on May 21, 2019, when the  National Science Foundation’s   Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) , located in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington, detected gravitational waves from a merger of two stellar-mass black holes. This event, dubbed GW190521, resulted in a black hole weighing 142 Suns.

A stellar-mass black hole forms when a star with more than 20 solar masses exhausts the nuclear fuel in its core and collapses under its own weight. The collapse triggers a supernova explosion that blows off the star’s outer layers. But if the crushed core contains more than about three times the Sun’s mass, no known force can stop its collapse to a black hole. The origin of supermassive black holes is poorly understood, but we know they exist from the very earliest days of a galaxy’s lifetime.

Once born, black holes can grow by accreting matter that falls into them, including gas stripped from neighboring stars and even other black holes.

In 2019, astronomers using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — an international collaboration that networked eight ground-based radio telescopes into a single Earth-size dish — captured an image of a black hole for the first time. It appears as a dark circle silhouetted by an orbiting disk of hot, glowing matter. The supermassive black hole is located at the heart of a galaxy called M87, located about 55 million light-years away, and weighs more than 6 billion solar masses. Its event horizon extends so far it could encompass much of our solar system out to well beyond the planets.

Another important discovery related to black holes came in 2015 when scientists first detected gravitational waves , ripples in the fabric of space-time predicted a century earlier by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. LIGO detected the waves from an event called GW150914, where two orbiting black holes spiraled into each other and merged 1.3 billion years ago. Since then, LIGO and other facilities have observed numerous black hole mergers via the gravitational waves they produce.  

These are exciting new methods, but astronomers have been studying black holes through the various forms of light they emit for decades. Although light can’t escape a black hole’s event horizon, the enormous tidal forces in its vicinity cause nearby matter to heat up to millions of degrees and emit radio waves and X-rays. Some of the material orbiting even closer to the event horizon may be hurled out, forming jets of particles moving near the speed of light that emit radio, X-rays and gamma rays. Jets from supermassive black holes can extend hundreds of thousands of light-years into space.

NASA’s Hubble , Chandra , Swift , NuSTAR , and NICER space telescopes, as well as other missions, continue to take the measure of black holes and their environments so we can learn more about these enigmatic objects and their role in the evolution of galaxies and the universe at large.

See our Black Hole Gallery for additional images, simulations and visualizations about black holes.

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The mystery of black holes.

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Black holes are a scientific mystery – there is so much still to discover. The first image of a black hole was captured in April 2019. Much of what we know about black holes is theory or based on observations of objects near or behind a black hole. This is just a summary of black holes. It’s a subject too deep to cover in one article!

How are black holes formed?

A black hole comes from the death of a large star (at least 10 times bigger than our Sun) exploding at the end of its life in a supernova. The Sun, being too small, won’t ever become a black hole, it will expand, contract and cool off in its death process.

The constant fusion of hydrogen to helium creates the energy and radiation from a star. A star is in a stable state for most of its life as the energy pushing out from the star balances with the gravitational force pulling in.

At the end of a star’s life, stars like our Sun will continue fusing elements together like helium to carbon, carbon to neon, but not much further. Large stars will continue fusing elements until the star reaches iron. Iron is a very stable element , and gravity alone cannot compress it further. Iron builds up in the core, and the internal pressure of energy radiating outwards becomes out of balance with the pressure of gravity pulling inwards. The outer layers of the star are no longer supported by the radiation pressure of nuclear fusion, and the star’s gravity pulls the outer layers into the core. When the incompressible core connects with the outer layers, a shockwave is sent through the densely packed star, which results in the fusion of other elements on the periodic table after iron.

Now the energy being released overwhelms the pressure of gravity, and the collapsing star explodes in a supernova, the largest explosion known. The lighter outer layers are flung off into space, and the remaining core can create a black hole. A black hole has so much mass tightly packed into a small space that, close up, its gravity is so strong that nothing nearby can escape it. To get away from a black hole, you’d have to travel faster than the speed of light, which isn’t possible.

How do you observe black holes?

Astronomers observe black holes by watching the light from stars in the background warp as the gravity of the black hole pulls on the light. They also observe stars as they cross the ‘event horizon’ (the point of no return) and the radiation emitting from the black hole. But not everything gets pulled into the black hole. There is an orbital pattern to objects near some black holes. They get close to the black hole and then are ‘flung’ out again – as shown in this YouTube video .

The ‘black’ part of the black hole is the event horizon. If an object breaches the event horizon and approaches the singularity it will become ‘spaghettified’ – stretched and pulled apart by the black hole’s gravitational forces. Scientists think that in the middle of the black hole is a ‘singularity’. It’s at this point in the black hole discussion that classical physics principles can no longer be applied (it stops making sense in this context) and quantum mechanics takes over. The theory is that the singularity is an infinitely small point where gravity and density are also infinite. The black hole is packed with all the heavy elements from the star but in a much smaller space. Imagine the mass of a star 10 times the size of our Sun compressed into something the size of a city.

Creating the first photograph of a black hole

Black holes are fascinating because there is so much we don’t know. It’s an area ripe for investigation, and NASA is doing just that. There is a NASA campaign under way that aims to understand black holes further. From 5–14 April, astronomers used a network of radio telescopes to look at the gigantic Sagittarius A* black hole located at the centre of our galaxy. These telescopes were all pointing towards Sagittarius A* and worked together to create the first photo of a black hole. The data from the radio telescopes will be converted into an image. At the time of writing this article, the photo had not been released.

Explore more on the Hub

NASA is using radio telescopes to photograph a black hole. Learn about radio telescopes with these Hub resources: Light and telescopes and Exploring with telescopes .

Astronomer Melanie Johnston-Hollitt describes what black holes are and how she hunts them in the video Black holes .

Useful links

This video explains black holes from birth to death .

This time-lapse video shows the motion of stars near a black hole over a 16-year period.

Find out how scientists captured the first image of a black hole . You might also want to read about Hubble's exciting universe: finding supermassive black holes .

Canterbury Distinguished Professor Roy Kerr found the solution to the Einstein field equation of general relativity. He was able to predict black holes before they were discovered and more than 50 years before one was photographed! Find out more in this Stuff article .

Acknowledgement

This article has been written by Stardome Observatory and Planetarium , which has been operating since 1967. It is a place of exploration, research and sharing of knowledge and hosts New Zealand’s first and still largest planetarium theatre. Stardome Observatory and Planetarium celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017.

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Home — Essay Samples — Science — Black Hole — The Types of Black Holes

The Types of Black Holes

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Essay: Black Holes

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Black Holes

Introduction

In 1998, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) began the construction of what became the largest machine ever built in human history. It would have a circumference of 27 km and would cost approximately $9 billion to construct. It was a particle accelerator and it was called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It was designed to solve some of the greatest mysteries in physics and give us a better understanding of the universe and its creation. During its construction, millions of people were opposed to this monumental project. They feared the creation of micro black holes that would stabilize and consume the entire planet. To some extent, these fears were correct. When two particles collide, a micro black hole is created, yet these black holes quickly lose mass through Hawking radiation. As a result, they only last for fractions of a second.

To satisfy the public, CERN commissioned the Large Hadron Collider Safety Study Group (LSSG) to analyze the LHC and assess any possible danger. In 2003, the Group released their report entitled, Study of Potentially Dangerous Events During Heavy-Ion Collisions at the LHC, which concluded that ‘there was no basis for any conceivable threat’. In 2008, CERN organized the Large Hadron Collider Safety Assessment Group (LSAG), who was tasked with reviewing the report made by the LSSG and to take into consideration new information that was not available or known in 2003. LSAG supported the conclusions in the 2003 report, reaffirming that ‘there was no basis for any conceivable threat.’ They wrote another report, called Review of the Safety of LHC Collisions, which was reviewed and endorsed by CERN’s Scientific Policy Committee. The report addressed concerns about cosmic rays, strangelets, vacuum bubbles, magnetic monopoles, and microscopic black holes. According to the Standard Model, a theory concerning nuclear interactions, the minimum required energy to stabilize a micro black hole is 1019 GeV (one GeV is a billion volts). To put this into comparison, an average toaster oven operates at approximately 200 volts. In order to reach the minimum required energy, one would need 5*10^28 toaster ovens. There aren’t that many toaster ovens in existence. In addition to this, we would require a ring accelerator that, with our current magnetic technology, would have a diameter of 1,000 light-years. There are many theories on how to simplify these requirements, yet these theories aren’t possible either with our current technology. One theory (Choptuik & Pretorius, 2010, pg. 1) states that if we added an extra dimension, the required energy would go down by half. The problem with that idea is that we don’t know how to control and manipulate dimensions. But, how could we create one? What are the specific technological requirements to create a black hole? And what threat would it possess if we made one? This is a difficult, obscure topic with no easy or direct answer and for now, we will only be able to theorize over the answers.

Section 1: Black Holes

Subsection A. What is a black hole?

A black hole is an area whose gravitational force is so powerful nothing can escape. Anything unfortunate enough to come close to a black hole will be sucked in and will be unable to escape the pull of gravity. Even light cannot escape the grasp of a black hole, which explains its moniker, black hole. At the center of a black hole is a singularity, which is a point at which matter is compacted to where it has infinite density and zero volume. Around it is an event horizon, widely considered to be the boundary of a black hole. Once an object enters the event horizon, it will be pulled into the singularity and crushed into such a miniscule object that it is difficult to fathom the size of it. Imagine an object the size of our Sun becoming the size of a marble. This event horizon is dictated by a formula (1916) created by German physicist, Karl Schwarzschild (pg.5), which is shown below.

In this equation, R is the Schwarzschild radius, G is Newton’s constant, M is the mass of the black hole, and c is the speed of light. The event horizon of the black hole must fall within the Schwarzschild radius or the black hole cannot exist. If the event horizon doesn’t fall within the Schwarzschild radius, then the power of gravity isn’t enough to create a singularity and a black hole won’t form. At this time, it should be admitted that, in theory, it is possible to escape the event horizon of a black hole. However, due to current technological restrictions, it is impossible for us to achieve this. This is because the escape velocity exceeds the speed of light, which supports the fact that light is unable to escape a black hole. Considering that we have yet to reach the speed of light, we cannot reach the required escape velocity. Here are three variations of the formula for calculating escape velocity:

V_e='(2GM/r)='(2??/r)=’2gr

In this equation, Ve is the escape velocity, G is the Gravitational Constant, M is the mass of the body being escaped from, r is the distance between the center of the body and point at which the escape velocity is being calculated, g is the gravitational acceleration at that distance, and ?? is the standard gravitational parameter. Some of these things should be explained, since they aren’t topics of common discussion. Firstly, the Gravitational Constant is a constant of proportionality used to calculate the gravitational force of various objects and is also known as Newton’s Constant. It is equal to 6.67??10’11 m3 kg’1 s’2. Next, the gravitational acceleration is the rate of acceleration induced on an object by gravity. At different points on Earth, this can vary from 9.78 to 9.82 m/s2. Lastly, the standard gravitational parameter is the measure of the capacity of a celestial body to apply a Newtonian gravitational force on another celestial body. Here’s an example of this formula at work. Let us consider a spaceship on the event horizon of a black hole. First, we need to calculate the Schwarzschild radius of our theoretical black hole, which is going to have a mass of 20 solar masses (20*the mass of our sun).

R=(2*(6.67*’10’^(-11) )*(3.978*’10’^31))/(299792458^2)

From this equation, we find out that the Schwarzschild radius is 59044.46645m or 59km. This will act as r in our escape velocity formula. Now we can calculate the escape velocity of our black hole:

V_e='((2(6.67*’10’^(-11) )*(3.978*’10’^31))/59044.46645)

After solving this, we are left with the required escape velocity to escape from our theoretical black hole, which is 299,792,458m/s. To put it into perspective, the highest speed the human race has ever achieved is 24,791mph. This was achieved by the crew of the Apollo 10 in May, 1969. The required speed to escape a black hole is 186,347 miles per second, or 670,849,200 miles per hour. That’s approximately 27,000 times faster than we have ever traveled. Keeping that information in mind, it is fair to say that, for the time being, we cannot escape a black hole, and anything unfortunate enough to get too close, is sure to face certain doom.

Subsection B. How are black holes formed?

A black hole is formed after the supernova of a giant star, typically a star with over 3 solar masses. A supernova occurs when a star has used up all of its nuclear fuel. The star then releases a massive wave of energy, which is roughly equivalent to the power found in a 1028 megaton bomb (or a few octillion nuclear bombs). There are two main types of supernovae. They are Type I and Type II. Type I supernovae have three subcategories: Ia, Ib, and Ic, which are divided according to their spectra. Most Type Ia supernovae originate from white dwarf stars which have reached the Chandrasekhar limit (which is the maximum size for a stable white dwarf star), or 1.39 solar masses. Type II supernovae occur when a massive star (usually between 8 and 100 solar masses) reach the end of their lives. The star has burned all of its nuclear fuel and begins to collapse in on itself. If the core is less than about 3 solar masses, then it compresses into a core that is approximately 20 kilometers across and consists entirely of neutrons. This core is called a neutron star, and is so dense, that a teaspoonful of this material weighs 50 billion tons on Earth. However, if the core is greater than 3 solar masses, then the core will continue collapsing on itself and create a black hole.

Section 2: Particle Accelerators

Subsection A: An Overview of Particle Accelerators

In its simplest definition, a particle accelerator is a machine that accelerates atomic and subatomic particles at high velocities in order to solve mysteries about the creation of our universe, validate string theory, and find the answers to many questions that we have about the world around us. They vary greatly in size, with the largest being the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland with a circumference of 27 kilometers, and the smallest being the Cornell device at Cornell University in New York that is only a few square centimeters. There are several types of particle accelerators, including, but not limited to: cyclotrons, synchrotrons, and colliders. A cyclotron sends particles in a spiral path radiating outwards, while a synchrotron sends particles in a circle so that they almost reach the speed of light. A collider, which has no doubt become the most well known type of accelerator, sends atoms hurtling towards each other at high velocities and smashing them together.

Subsection B: Examples of Particle Accelerators

Since the dawn of the 20th century, there have been approximately 70 particle accelerators created in the world. A large portion of them receive no public attention whatsoever, despite many of them being large and expensive projects. The total cost of building them totals to several billions of dollars. Yet one accelerator has received more attention than the rest of them combined. This accelerator is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. It cost $4.4 billion to make and is now the largest machine in the world. When it was being built, much of the technology required for it to perform its duties had not been invented. Therefore, multiple side projects had to begin in order for the LHC to be created. Few machines have created as much controversy as the LHC has. People feared the creation of micro-black holes, strangelets, and cosmic rays. Many staunch Christians thought that it was sacrilegious since one of the tasks of the LHC was to verify the Big Bang Theory. More articles have been written about the LHC than any other particle accelerator in the entire world. It attracts the attention of a very eclectic crowd of scientists, Christians, atheists, science fiction enthusiasts, and authors. There are many other accelerators spread through the world. For example, there’s the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) at Cornell University in New York, the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider (BEPC) in Beijing, the ISIS Neutron Source at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxford, and the Radioactive Ion Beam facility (RIBRAS) in S??o Paulo. All of these accelerators perform important and fascinating experiments that strive to define the boundaries of the world we live in.

Section 3: Creating a Black Hole

Subsection A: The LSAG Report

In 2003, CERN had received voracious attacks about the dangers of their project. People were terrified about the LHC being a doomsday machine that would bring about the end of the world. In order to bring these fears to a halt, they assembled a team of the most qualified physicists and astro-physicists in the world. This team was tasked with assessing the risks and dangers of completing the construction of the LHC. They were called the LHC Safety Study Group (LSSG). Their result was a report that directly stated that there was no threat of micro black holes, or strangelets. In 2008, construction of the LHC had finished and in September, the first collision was performed. That same year, CERN organized another team of people to review the report written by the LSSG. This team was known as the LHC Safety Assessment Group (LSAG). They published a 15 page report entitled, Review of the Safety of LHC Collisions. This report supported the LSSG’s conclusion that there was no danger presented by the LHC.

Subsection B: Required Energy and Formula

In 1974, famed physicist Stephen Hawking published a paper (Black Hole Explosions, 1974) about the existence of a new kind of radiation consisting of photons, neutrinos, and other particles, and emanating from black holes. This new radiation was named Hawking Radiation and is one of the largest obstacles for microscopic black holes seeking to become stable. If a microscopic black hole were to be created in a particle accelerator, it would lose mass and evaporate. This would happen in less than a nanosecond. The lifetime of a black hole is determined by this equation:

’10’^71*M^3 where M is equal to the mass of the black hole in solar masses and the final result is in seconds. A micro black hole can have a mass of at least the Planck Mass (22 micrograms or 1.10602785*10^-38). If we put this into the equation, we find that the lifetime of a micro black hole with a mass of 23 micrograms is almost zero. Our theoretical black hole would evaporate almost instantaneously. For the black hole to be created in the first place, the accelerator would have to collide the particles with 10^19 GeV of power. This is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 volts of energy. This is ten times more than the Planck energy, which is 1.2*10^19 eV or 1,200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 volts. The most powerful accelerator in the world is the LHC and it produces approximately 7 TeV, or 7,000,000,000 volts. The required energy is 1.428571429*10^21 times larger than the power produced by the most powerful accelerator in the world.

Section 4: Building Requirements

Subsection A: Technological Requirements

Our current magnetic technology does not fit the requirements for the task of creating a micro black hole. The LHC uses magnetic dipoles and they are some of the most powerful magnets in the world, producing 8.4 Tesla when operating at a current of 11,700 amperes. Each one of these magnets is 14.3 meters long and the LHC uses 1,232 magnets in total. Each magnet costs $520,750 each, making the total value of all of the magnets $641,564,000. If we were to use the same magnets to create a micro black hole, we would need enough for an accelerator with a diameter of 1,000 light-years. Were this project to be undertaken, it would certainly become the largest manmade structure in this solar system. However, it is extremely unlikely that we would have enough resources to complete the accelerator. The more probable solution would be to advance our magnetic technology, but progress in this field is slow. It is possible to increase the magnetic field of electromagnets by increasing the current flowing through them, but there are limitations to this. There is a maximum limit of magnetic lines of force that can be passed through the core material of the magnet. Any increase in current will result in a small increase in the magnetic field.

Subsection B: Amount of Materials Needed

It can easily be expected that the theoretical particle accelerator described in the previous subsection will require a large amount of materials to construct. The following calculation operates under the following conditions: the tube that the particles are fired down is the same diameter as the tube used in the LHC and it is made of solid steel. In order to create an accelerator with the same specifications above, we would need 8.5734*10^39 lbs of solid steel. The process of creating steel requires large amounts of iron, a mineral that is in limited supply on Earth. It is possible to mine the iron that the Earth’s core is composed of, but it is impossible to extract this iron without compromising the integrity of the Earth’s crust. An alternate solution to that problem would be to begin mining operations on Mars, whose surface contains massive amounts of iron. However, it is unknown whether the total amount of iron on Earth and Mars will be sufficient for the construction of the accelerator. Therefore, due to the amount of uncertainty associated with this, it can be stated that we do not have the required amount of materials to begin such a project.

The road to manmade black holes is littered with obstacles. They vary from the energy required to the dimensions of the actual accelerator to the technology we need. The solutions include more powerful magnets, new energy sources, interplanetary mining, but many of these ideas require technology and knowledge that we haven’t acquired yet. A very good question that must be faced before hypothesizing and attempting to find solutions is: why? Given the risk of a growing black hole that can escape our control, what cause do we have for trying this dangerous feat? Is science worth the potential destruction that a black hole can ravage? And a question for the day when we reach this technological level is: Just because we can, should we? While that day is far from today, it is something scientists must ask themselves with every great idea. The final analysis is simple: we can’t create micro black holes in our particle accelerators with our current technology. The requirements are too great for our abilities. The fears that are spawned by particle accelerators are easily dissipated when information comes forth that disproves our beliefs. This does, however, provide religious fundamentalists with further reason to continue to question and disapprove of what goes on in our laboratories across the world. Yet, one thing is true. We cannot become too sure of ourselves. Many theories and even validated scientific facts have been disproven before. We are human and therefore prone to error. We cannot shun the possibility that even the greatest minds on our planet can sometimes be wrong. Nor should we forget that science is unpredictable and quite often, we may find that what we believe is wrong.

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Black holes

B. brügmann.

* Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Albert Einstein Institute, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Golm, Germany; ‡ University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1562; and § Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, An der Sternwarte 16, 14482, Potsdam, Germany

Recent progress in black hole research is illustrated by three examples. We discuss the observational challenges that were met to show that a supermassive black hole exists at the center of our galaxy. Stellar-size black holes have been studied in x-ray binaries and microquasars. Finally, numerical simulations have become possible for the merger of black hole binaries.

Black holes are a striking example of a prediction of Einstein's theory of gravity, general relativity. Although it took many decades before the physical concept of a black hole was fully understood and widely accepted, recent years have seen rapid advances on both the observational and theoretical side, which we want to illustrate in this brief note with three examples. Black holes have become an astrophysical reality. Solid observational evidence exists for black holes in two mass ranges. Supermassive black holes of 10 6 -10 9 solar masses have been observed at the centers of many galaxies, and here we discuss the observational challenges that were met to show that there exists a black hole at the center of our own galaxy. Stellar-size black holes of about 3–20 solar masses have been studied in x-ray binaries and microquasars. Finally, numerical simulations have become possible for the merger of black hole binaries.

Recent high-resolution imaging studies of stars at the center of our Galaxy have produced strong dynamical evidence for a central concentration of dark matter, establishing the Milky Way as the most convincing case of a galaxy containing a central supermassive black hole ( 1 , 2 ). In those experiments, images obtained over 2–6 years at the Keck telescope ( 1 ) and European Southern Observatory's New Technology Telescope ( 2 ) provided measurements of the stars' velocities in the plane of the sky, from which a statistical analysis revealed the existence of 2−3 × 10 6 solar masses of dark matter contained within a radius of 0.015 parsec (1 parsec = 3.09 × 10 16 m), or 2.6 light weeks. At this meeting, new results from the Keck telescope were reported. With this new data set, which triples the number of maps obtained and doubles the time baseline for the Keck experiment, the velocity uncertainties are reduced by a factor of 3 compared with the earlier Keck work ( 1 ), primarily as a result of the increased time baseline and, in the central square arcsecond, by a factor of 6 compared with ref. 2 , due to the higher angular resolution (0."05 vs. 0."15). In addition to simply increasing the time baseline for velocity measurements, the new measurements have advanced this experiment in two significant ways: ( i ) the first Keck adaptive optics (AO) images of the galactic center have been obtained (Fig. ​ (Fig.1), 1 ), allowing a more complete census of stars in this region to be obtained ( 3 ), and ( ii ) the first measurements of stellar accelerations in this field have now been achieved ( 4 ).

A ≈3" × 3" region showing the Sgr A* cluster (the faint stars located just to the right of the center of the field of view). Both images were taken in May 1999 at 2.2 μm (K-band); however, the image on the left was produced by shift-and-adding Keck I speckle data, and the image on the right was obtained with the new Keck II adaptive optics system. The adaptive optics image represents a large improvement.

With longer integration times, AO should probe a yet larger sample of fainter stars, place stringent limits on Sgr A*, and explore the possibility of a gravitational lensing experiment ( 5 ). For the time being, the AO map has increased the number of stars in the proper motion study ( 3 ). With relative positional accuracies of ≈3 milliarcseconds, the motions of stars are now fit with a second-order polynomial as opposed to a simple linear fit, which was done in earlier work. Among the 90 stars in the original Keck proper motion sample ( 1 ), accelerations of 2–5 milliarseconds/yr 2 , or equivalently 3–6 × 10 −6 km/sec 2 , are now detected for three stars, S0–1, S0–2, and S0–4 ( 4 ). These three stars are independently distinguished in this sample as being among the fastest moving stars ( v = 565 to 1,383 km/sec) and among the closest to the nominal position of Sgr A* (< r > = 0.003 to 0.015 parsec). Acceleration vectors, in principle, are more precise tools than velocity vectors for studying the properties of the central dark mass. These acceleration measurements improve the localization of our Galaxy's dynamical center by a factor of 3, which is critical for reliably associating any near-infrared source with the black hole, given the complexity of the region. In addition, these acceleration measurements increase the minimum mass density inferred by a factor of 8 over previous results, thereby strengthening the case for a black hole.

X-Ray Binaries and Microquasars.

In contrast to the need for measuring dozens of stars to determine the mass of the black hole in the Galactic Center, that of black holes in x-ray binary systems can be deduced either from optical/IR measurements of just one star, namely the companion of the stellar-mass black hole, or from x-ray observations of the binary. In x-ray binaries, a black hole of typically 3–10 solar masses and a normal star (1–30 solar masses) orbit each other. Matter is pulled off the companion star and, because of its angular momentum, is forming an accretion disk as it moves toward the black hole. Before finally falling into the black hole, the matter heats up to several million degrees at the inner part of the disk and emits luminous x-ray radiation. Because the whole accretion process is highly variable, numerous such black hole binaries have been found over the last decade, thanks to x-ray detectors on satellites, such as Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory and Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer, constantly monitoring the whole sky.

Although optical/IR spectroscopic measurements of the velocity of the companion star can readily determine the mass of the black hole, x-ray measurements promise to be a sharper and even more flexible diagnostic tool as they reach down to the inner edge of the accretion disk at a few Schwarzschild radii of the black hole. High time-resolution observations of black hole binaries have revealed quasiperiodic oscillations in x-ray emission at a stable minimum period, e.g., at 67 Hz for GRS 1915 + 105 ( 6 ), which may very well be related to the period of the innermost stable orbit of the accretion disk. The Kerr metric fixes this period as a function of mass and spin of the black hole. Because the maximum temperature of the innermost disk, as discernable from x-ray spectroscopy, is also thought to be just a function of black hole mass and spin, detailed x-ray observations can be used to determine both the mass AND spin of a black hole ( 7 ).

A small fraction of black hole binaries also eject matter at relativistic speeds into two opposite jets that are observable in the radio band as knots moving apart at superluminal speed. Actually, GRS 1915 + 105 is the most famous representative of this class of object, called microquasars ( 8 ). Simultaneous observations of these microquasars in the x-ray, optical/IR, and radio band have for the first time revealed a relation between accretion disk instabilities and jet ejections ( 9 , 10 ). Theorists now face the challenge of modeling the highly dynamical processes of nonsteady accretion and jet formation, acceleration, and collimation, with all of the complications of three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics and general relativity.

Another example in which the full Einstein equations have to be solved in the highly dynamic and nonlinear regime is the collision and merger of two black holes. In fact, although single black holes are comparatively simple exact solutions of the Einstein equations, the two-body problem of general relativity for black holes, or neutron stars, is unsolved. As opposed to Newtonian theory, where the Kepler ellipses provide an astrophysically relevant example for the analytic solution of the two-body problem, in Einsteinian gravity there are no corresponding exact solutions. The failure of Einstein's theory to lead to stable orbits is due to the fact that, in general, two orbiting bodies will emit gravitational waves that carry away energy and momentum from the system, leading to an inspiral. Of course, this “leak” is not considered detrimental. It is expected that gravitational wave astronomy will open a new window onto the universe ( 11 ), and binary black hole mergers are considered to be among the most likely candidates for first detection.

Numerical relativity is only now approaching a state where the evolution of rather general three-dimensional data sets can be simulated on a computer to solve the Einstein equations (see, e.g., ref. 12 ). After early computations for the axisymmetric head-on collision of two black holes in the 1970s, it was in 1995 that, for the first time, spherically symmetric data for a single Schwarzschild black hole was evolved with a three-dimensional computer code ( 13 ). The first fully three-dimensional binary black hole evolutions, the grazing collision of nearby spinning and moving black holes, is reported in ref. 14 . Fig. ​ Fig.2 2 shows a visualization of such a black hole merger [M. Alcubierre, W. Benger, B. Brügmann, G. Lanfermann, L. Nerger, E. Seidel & R. Takahashi, R. http://jean-luc.aei.mpg.de/Press/BH1999/ ]. These simulations are still severely limited in achievable evolution time (300 μs for a final black hole of 10 solar masses), i.e., one can evolve through the very last moments of the inspiral when the two black holes merge, but even a single full orbit is not yet possible. Concretely, the computer code crashes when the space–time distortion becomes too severe. The recent computer simulations not only reflect an increase in raw computer power but also are due to theoretical work on how to construct good coordinates dynamically to deal with strong and even singular gravitational fields, and a new way to compute black hole initial data was developed. Work is in progress to obtain at least one orbit and to compute the gravitational waves generated in a black hole merger.

The evolution of the apparent horizon during a grazing black hole collision. Initially there are two separate horizons, which, during the merger, become enclosed by a third one. The coloring represents the curvature of the surface. The black holes appear to grow, because numerical grid points are falling toward and into the black hole.

In conclusion, we believe that black hole physics will be a very dynamic field in the coming years.

Acknowledgments

A.M.G. was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Packard Foundation. J.G. was partly supported by the German Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (BMBF/DLR) under contract 50 QQ 9602 3. The simulations in refs. 14 and 15 were performed at the Albert-Einstein-Institut and at National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

This paper is a summary of a session presented at the sixth annual German–American Frontiers of Science symposium, held June 8–10, 2000, at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Science and Engineering in Irvine, CA.

The Mystery Behind Black Holes. An Essay

Essay, 2018, eva lozano (author), the mystery behind black holes.

Known for its strong gravitational field and captivating mystery, a black hole, also referred as a singularity, remains confusing and indescribable to all of those who attempt to comprehend it; something so fascinating, yet unseen, unrecorded by man, and undetected by technology. Black holes prevail as one of the universe's greatest phenomenons.

The definition of a black hole is “a region of space [that has] a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation can escape” (Smith), which fails to fully describe a black hole. They are not completely understood by humanity, but there are some things that scientists are well aware of, for instance, how they come to be. There are multiple ways to trigger the creation of a black hole, one of them being when a large mass in space accumulates in a very small area. Hawking says “it is like piling more and more books into a library. Eventually, the shelves will give way, and the library will collapse into a black hole” (Hawking). Another way black holes are created is in the collision of two stars within a binary system. After merging, a black hole is born. The third way for a black hole to be created is when a star eventually runs out of fuel, and if the mass of the star is so immense that it can't be held, then the star will shrink and its matter will be compressed into an “infinitely small, infinitely dense point called a singularity. This is the center of a black hole” (Allen). You may be wondering how it is a black hole dies, given that some of them come from dead stars. In other words, how can something that is already dead... die? This happens because of Hawking radiation. In the event horizon of a black hole, there are matter and antimatter particles merging at all the times and converting into energy. As a consequence, if an antimatter particle falls into the singularity of the black hole then it will merge with a matter particle within the singularity of the black hole, and “antimatter destroys matter” (Brandvold). Therefore, the black hole would shrink but it would be almost insignificant since “The bigger the Black hole, the shorter the lifespan” (Brandvold).

Secondly, it is also important to know how black holes work, and to analyze some of the theories that are not yet understood by the public. One of these theories was developed by scientist Albert Einstein, he said that if an astronaut got close to a black hole he or she would not notice it and would eventually pass the event horizon of the black hole (the place of no return). Once you pass the event horizon it is impossible to escape. This theory states that eventually the black hole will pull the astronaut apart resulting in his death. This is called the Firewall paradox. There is another theory that is called the holographic theory which causes extreme controversy, however it is the one that scientist are more inclined to. This ideology states the following; When matter passes the event horizon, the black hole turns everything into information. Information is what everything is made of, its the arrangement of particles. Arrange the particle one way you get a banana, use the same particles arranged differently you get a cellphone, add more and more particles in different arrangements and you can get a human. So essentially all of those substances that pass the event horizon are converted into information and are changed from a 3D state to a 2D state. However the information would be displayed in a hologram and would appear to be 3D but in reality is not. If what entered the black hole is a person, the person would not notice that he's physical state has changed. The final theory also has to do with information, it was developed by Stephen Hawking. He claims that all matter once in the black hole becomes information, but what happens when the black hole disappears? It would mean that all information would be lost, therefore the particles that come out on the black hole would make no sense and “bear no relation of what fell in” (Hawking). If this is true than we would not have any past, because if all information is lost we would have no knowledge of our roots therefore we would have no identity. However, Hawking has presented a thesis that could explain what happens to the information, he says that information is preserved therefore a black hole is not what people used to think it was, it is not a prison with no exit, “this tell us about whether it is possible to fall in a black hole, and come out in another universe” (Hawking). Information would not be accessible but it would be saved.

The death of a star provokes the initiation of a black hole, it is important to add that this only happens if the star that dies has a mass that is more than 2.8 times the mass of the sun; it is then that no force will be able to stop the collapse. Moving on to a different point, it is also important to mention that black holes distort our concepts of space and time. A curvature of space time is created when near a massive body, meaning that if a person were to be orbiting on the edge and manage to not fall into the event horizon, time would slow down for that person. A scenario could be one is orbiting the black hole and you stay that way for a week, you come back to earth only to find out 10 years have gone by, but you have only aged a week. Near the event horizon time slows down, so that week you spent in there it would go by in slow motion, but time back home would stay the same, and if the black hole is big enough that week could even be the equivalent to billions of years down in planet earth.

Subsequently, what has been said above may be confusing, and at times hard to grasp. Nonetheless, this is an extremely fascinating topic, a theorem that will continue to bring controversy upon humanity. Scientists will keep discovering more about black holes, new theories will be proven legitimate, while others might not. Research will advance in this field, with the hope that in the future they will no longer be perplexing to the human brain. Instead, they will be something rather transparent yet staggering for all civilization.

Dunbar, Brian. “What Is a Black Hole?” NASA, NASA, 21 May 2015,

Green, Brian. “What Happens To Time Near A Black Hole.” Youtube, (World Science U.) 24, Feb. 2014.

Kurzgesagt. “Why Black Holes Could Delete The Universe.” (Crash Course.) 24, Aug. 2017.

Ouellette, Jennifer. “Black Hole Firewalls Confound Theoretical Physicists.” Scientific American, 21 Dec. 2012.

Perry, Philip. “The Basis of the Universe May Not Be Energy or Matter but Information.” Big Think, Big Think, 27 Aug. 2017.

Plait, Phil. “Black Holes: Crash Course Astronomy #33.” Youtube, (Crash Course) 25, Sept. 2015.

Skorucak, Anton. “How Does a Star Become a Supernova or a Black Hole? How Does the Star Decide Which One to Turn into?” What Is the Difference between Paramagnetism and Ferromagnetism? 12, May. 2018.

The Information Paradox for Black Holes, S.W. Hawking. Sep 3, 2015.

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Black Holes

Updated 13 July 2022

Subject Astronomy ,  Learning ,  Physics ,  Scientist

Downloads 32

Category Education ,  Science

Topic Black Hole ,  Research ,  Space Exploration ,  Stephen Hawking

The word black hole can simply be described as a closely packed matter from which nothing, even light, can escape (“10 Amazing Facts About Black Holes”) and (Dunbar, Brian), which flies at an estimated speed of 186,000 miles per second (Richard Talcott). For several years, physicists have been fascinated by these phenomena, and many scientific experiments have been conducted to better understand their interactions with other matter in space. Richard Talcott in his article “Astronomy 101: Black holes” points out that the idea that the objects of black hole existence stretch to more than years when British Professor and French astronomer John Michell and Pierre Simon respectively coined the words ‘dark bodies’ in space. As a result, many explanations have been put across to see to it that they are explained. At least the black holes formations have been agreed by various scientists on grounds of experimental research and observation. In this sense, a black hole can be characterized by their creation, different types, and theories of results of something going in one.I. The creation of a black hole form in different ways depending on their mass.The creation of a black hole may be a mystery as nobody has stayed long enough to see that happening. However, there are theories that have been put across to explain the formation of these phenomena. More understandable, many scientists agree that a black hole can for instantly or take many millions of years for it to form depending on various factors. The following are some of the ways through which the black holes can form. A. A common way for a black hole to formThere are different sizes of black holes with some smaller as the size of the New York City and others ten times larger than our sun (ScienceDaily 2017). The formation of the big black holes though not clear when they were formed but to some extent are agreed to have been formed very early in the universe like shortly after the Big Bang. There are two main ways through which the black holes can form, namely: the collapse of a star or the gravity pulling in the mass of a black hole.1) Collapse of a starThe formation of most black holes form from the remnants of large dying stars in a supernova explosion. This is because the small stars when they die they become dense neutron stars which are not capable to trap light. The formation of a black hole as a result of a collapse of a star is as follows. The existence of a star is dependent on a delicate balance existing between the push of incredibly hot gasses and the crushing force of gravity ("Black Holes"). This balance is in existence as long as there is what makes the forces exist, that is the existence of fuel to for the process of fusion that is responsible for the powering of the star. In the event that the sun runs out of the fuel to power it, the force of gravity takes over and collapses the star ("Black Holes"). The more the big the star the more drastic the collapse where the force will be so strong that even light cannot escape it, hence the formation of a black hole. 2) Gravity pulls itself into the mass of the black holeThe formation of a black hole by gravity pulling itself into the mass of another black hole occurs when a bigger star falls in upon itself. In the event that this happens, the resulting phenomenon is a supernova; an exploding star blasting its part in space. The remaining core of the star further collapses into a tiny singularity that has infinite density that has almost no volume which is the black hole (“10 Amazing Facts About Black Holes.”) B. The time it takes for black holes to form varyThe formation of black holes has been given by different theories and the time of their formation as well. The time as noted by Chang, Kenneth, can vary from very short time to a very long time. The following are explanations for the two durations of the formation.1) Process could take millions of yearsThis longer process of black hole formation involves a neutron star accreting materials from nearby matters like stars or it may merge with the companion star gradually collapsing to form a black hole. The process takes longer time and still depends on how fast there is the accumulation of other materials. 2) May form in an instantThe instant formation of a black hole occurs when there is a massive collapse of a star directly into a black hole with no occurrence of a supernova explosion. This is because the energy produced is too low to have the stellar envelope blown away resulting to a considerable part of the star collapsing to form a black hole. This process can take a matter of few seconds. II. Currently, there are only three theories of different types of black holes.C. There are three different types of black holes.1) StellarThe Stellar black hole is that which is formed as a result of the gravitational collapse involving a massive star. This occurs when the star loses fuel to power it hence the gravitational force that was in a balance with the force taking over. The gravitational collapse draws all the matter constituted on the star to form an object of infinite density and gravitational pull which is the black hole. 2) MiniatureThe miniature black holes are believed to have been formed during the Big Bang at the time of the beginning of the creation of the universe. They are small as compared to the stellar black holes. The formation process is believed to have been as a result of the rapid expansion that was uneven leading to the compression of some matter to squeeze into miniature black holes. 3) SupermassiveThe supermassive black holes are known to be the largest of the types of black holes. Their existence is believed to be at the center of every currently known galaxy. The formation of the supermassive black holes is not well known but many believe that they form from smaller black holes that gradually grow through the accretion of matter. Also, they may form as a result of the merger with other black holes to form the supermassive size. D. Scientists are able to measure black holes.The measurement of the black holes is based on their characteristics such as their size. In this case, there are different approaches and instrument utilized in the process of measurement. The size of the black holes as well will be a factor to consider when choosing a method of measurement.1) High resolution-observationThe scientists have been able to measure the size of black holes using the high resolution-observation. For example, the scientists made use of ALMA’s high-resolution observation to identify the emission of massive carbon monoxide coming from a huge disc that was orbiting the NGC 1332’s central black hole. Through this observation, they were able to measure the speed of the gas. 2) Spin of a black holeThe spin of a black hole can be used in the measurement of the phenomenon such as the faster the spin of the black hole, the closer it has the accretion disc lying to it as dictated by the relativity theory of Einstein. 3) Kepler’s lawThe use of Kepler’s Law is to determine the mass of a black hole by comparing the black hole with an elliptic orbit that the black hole has as its center. According to the Kepler’s law, the star that goes around a black hole moves along the elliptic orbits around common points that forms the center of the system. Other approaches are considered towards the relationship that will eventually lead to the determination of the mass of the black hole (Rincon, Paul).III. Theories of results if anything were to go in one.As has been known, the black holes have got a strong gravitational pull that even light that travels very fast cannot escape it as long as it goes into the black hole. In this light the other objects also will have the same fate as that of light entering the black hole; not coming back. The following are some of the anticipated observation that will occur when human beings were to go near the black hole. E. What would happen if a human were to in oneFrom the knowledge that the black holes are points of no return for anything including light, one thing can be anticipated – disappearance or death for the living thing. But interestingly, some other occurrences can be anticipated as pointed out by some scientists. The following are some of the assumed results that can be observed if a human were to go into one of the black holes. 1) Time slows downThe time of a human who may find themselves in a black hole is believed that it will be slower than the normal pace of time we have as those outside the black hole. This is explained by the Einstein’s theory of general relativity that hold that time is affected by how fast a person is going. In the event that the speed is near or equal to that of light, the time will be slow. Generally, the black holes because of the speed caused by the strong force of gravity, warps time and space leading to slow-moving of normal time (“10 Amazing Facts About Black Holes.”)2) SpaghettificationThis is the process by which the human near the black hole will be experiencing due to the strong gravitational force (Gefter, Amanda). It results in the physical body of the person getting elongated without breaking as the force of gravity pulls the part of the mass of the person towards the black hole. The resulting shape is that of a spaghetti hence the name spaghettification. 3) DeathObserving the black holes from a distance is safe as its strong gravitational force cannot pull the observer into the object (“10 Amazing Facts About Black Holes”). Upon reaching the point where the strong gravitational force of the black hole is effective, death is imminent. This is because there will be no return as the strong gravitational force does not allow anything to come from inside the black hole. This ultimately lead to the death of whatever living thing that goes into the black hole. F. Where black holes could goA lot has been asked about the destination of black holes upon formation and they have outlived their existence. This has to lead to many speculations to explain the probable possible result. The assumption that the black holes are able to bend the space itself is bringing a lot of speculation of the result of the destination of the objects. The following are some of the answers to the question regarding the destination of black holes. 1) Warm holesThe warm holes are known to be the theoretical passage through space and time and could be responsible for the creation of shortcuts for the long journeys in the universe (Palus, Shannon). The warm holes are predicted by the theory of general relativity that holds that there are ‘bridges’ through space and time (“Black Holes”). The bridges are the warm holes or are also known as Einstein-Rosen bridges. In this sense, they connect different points in the space thus, theoretically creating shortcuts that could reduce distance and time. 2) Time travelThe event horizon which forms the boundary of a black hole is the place where the gravity is strong with the capability of dragging light back hence preventing it from escaping. From the common knowledge that the speed of light is faster than any other thing known, the dragging of light into the whole not allowing it to be reflected will result in every other thing including time to be dragged back (Chang, Kenneth). The overall result on time, therefore, is the slow moving of time in comparison to the normal time. In addition to the assumption that the black holes are leading to warm holes in the universe, this may result in faster travel from one point of the universe to another because it is believed that it creates shortcuts through the warm holes. 3) Could lead to parallel universesDue to the assumption that nothing comes out of a black hole, there could be a way out that is probably another parallel universe (Than, Ker). This comes from the questions that arise from where the objects including light go to after they have been absorbed by the black holes. In this sense, some scientists believe that the black holes may be gate ways to other parallel universes upon objects and light being absorbed into the center of the objects (Writer, Miriam Kramer Staff). This can be supported by the presumed existence of the warm holes that are believed to act as bridges from one point of the universe to the other.In conclusion, the black holes from the above discussion are seen as a unique phenomena in the universe as seen from the various characters that they have. The discussion has looked at different aspects of the black holes including their formation, the types and what could happen to human being going into one. This has to lead to various assumed discoveries to explain all the anticipated occurrences. From the discussion, it has become evident that a black hole can be characterized by their creation, different types, and theories of results of something going in one which ends up to give a proper explanation about the black holes.Works cited"Black Holes." Physicscentral.Com, 2017, http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/action/blackholes.cfm.“10 Amazing Facts About Black Holes.” Universe Today, 23 Dec. 2015, www.universetoday.com/46687/black-hole-facts/. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017“Black Holes.” NASA, NASA, science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/black-holes. Accessed 8 Sept. 2017Chang, Kenneth. The New York Times. "An Experiment In Zurich Brings Us Nearer To A Black Hole’S Mysteries.."19, July, 2017,.Dunbar, Brian. “What Is a Black Hole?” NASA, NASA, 1 June 2015, www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-a-black-hole-58.html. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017Gefter, Amanda. “Earth – The strange fate of a person falling into a black hole.” BBC, BBC, 25 May 2015, www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150525-a-black–hole–would–clone–you. Accessed 07 Sept. 2017Palus, Shannon. "How Black Holes Are Like Whirlpools | Discovermagazine.Com." Discover Magazine, 2017, Richard Talcott  |  Published: Monday, August 24, 2009. “Astronomy 101: Black holes.” Astronomy.com, www.astronomy.com/videos/astronomy-101/2009/08/astronomy-101-black-holes. Accessed 8 Sept. 2017.Rincon, Paul. “Simulated black hole experiment backs Hawking prediction.” BBC News, BBC, 16 Aug. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37088877. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017ScienceDaily. (2017). New strategy to search for ancient black holes. [online] Available at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170613102933.htm [Accessed 11 Sep. 2017].Than, Ker. “Every Black Hole Contains Another Universe?” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 29 July 2016,Writer, Miriam Kramer Staff. “Some Scientists Not Convinced by Stephen Hawking's New Black Hole Proposal.” Space.com, www.space.com/24454-stephen-hawking-black-hole-theory.html. Accessed 09 Sept. 2017

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Astrophysics > Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

Title: dynamical friction and black holes in ultralight dark matter solitons.

Abstract: We numerically simulate the motion of a black hole as it plunges radially through an ultralight dark matter soliton. We investigate the timescale in which dynamical friction reduces the kinetic energy of the black hole to a minimum, and consider the sensitivity of this timescale to changes in the ULDM particle mass, the total soliton mass, and the mass of the black hole. We contrast our numerical results with a semi-analytic treatment of dynamical friction, and find that the latter is poorly suited to this scenario. In particular, we find that the back-reaction of the soliton to the presence of the black hole is significant, resulting in oscillations in the coefficient of dynamical friction which cannot be described in the simple semi-analytical framework. Furthermore, we observe a late-time reheating effect, in which a significant amount of kinetic energy is transferred back to the black hole after an initial damping phase. This complicates the discussion of ULDM dynamical friction on the scales relevant to the final parsec problem.

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