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Does a black hole have a surface?
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.
What happens when an object comes near the gravity of a black hole?
When anything (light, a space ship, even the Sun) comes too close to a black hole, the gravity of the black hole is so strong that the object cannot escape, even if it traveled at the speed of light! The distance from a black hole inside of which nothing can escape is called the event horizon.
Are black holes affected by gravity?
While black holes are mysterious and exotic, they are also a key consequence of how gravity works: When a lot of mass gets compressed into a small enough space, the resulting object rips the very fabric of space and time, becoming what is called a singularity.
Is there anything solid in a black hole?
When astronomers speak about them, they often make an unintentional impression that they are some kind solid objects. They are not. A black hole is a spacetime singularity that is enclosed by an event horizon. Both things are quite weird, but none of them is anything solid.
What happens if you get near a black hole?
The event horizon of a black hole is the point of no return. Anything that passes this point will be swallowed by the black hole and forever vanish from our known universe. At the event horizon, the black hole’s gravity is so powerful that no amount of mechanical force can overcome or counteract it.
What is the physics behind black holes?
A black hole (the phrase is usually credited to the American physicist John Wheeler in 1967, and is certainly a distinct improvement on the original label of “gravitationally completely collapsed objects”) is a region of space in which the gravitational field is so powerful that nothing, including electromagnetic radiation such as visible light, can escape its pull – a kind of bottomless pit in space-time.
What is the science behind black holes?
Black Holes. The idea of an object in space so massive and dense that light could not escape it has been around for centuries. Most famously, black holes were predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which showed that when a massive star dies, it leaves behind a small, dense remnant core.
What is the gravity of black holes?
A black hole is an area of such immense gravity that nothing—not even light—can escape from it. Black holes form at the end of some stars’ lives. The energy that held the star together disappears and it collapses in on itself producing a magnificent explosion.
Why is a black hole invisible?
A black hole is an (almost invisible) body in space, created most likely from a collapsed red super giant star, that is so dense that neither light nor matter can escape its gravitational pull. Inside a star there is a constant battle between inward pressure from gravity and outward pressure from heat.