Black Holes - What is really going on?
What are black holes?
Black holes are places in space in which gravity is so strong that not even light can escape. Black holes can be as small as a single atom, with the mass of a mountain. Black holes have an event horizon, which is the "point of no return" beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape. The core of a black hole is called the singularity. Not much is known about what the singularity actually is. A group is trying to photograph an event horizon. It has been described as "trying to image a grapefruit on the surface of the moon." The inside of a black hole cannot be photographed because no light can escape.
What do black holes affect?
Black holes affect everything that is around them, even light. Black holes cannot be seen directly. Things can be seen orbiting a black hole. When a black hole and a star are close together, high energy light is formed that can be seen through satellites and telescopes in space. If a black hole replaced our sun, the planets would continue orbiting it just the same. Though if the sun disappeared, we would freeze. The sun will never turn into a black hole because it is not massive enough. No black hole is close enough the earth for the earth to fall into it.
How are black holes created?
Black holes are created when a star collapses on itself. Stars are high mass collections of mostly hydrogen atoms that are held together by gravity. In their core, nuclear fusion crushes hydrogen atoms into helium, releasing energy. This energy pushes against gravity, creating a delicate balance holding the star together. For stars with very high mass, the heat and pressure at the core allow them to fuse heavier elements. First, hydrogen fuses to form helium, then helium fuses to form carbon, then carbon fuses to form neon, then neon fuses to form oxygen, then oxygen fuses to form silicon, then finally silicon fuses to form iron. Once it hits iron, the iron builds up until it breaks the balance between the gravity and the energy being put out. The core collapses and the star implodes very quickly, shoving mass into the core. This creates a supernova and, if the star is massive enough, the entire mass of the core collapses into a black hole.
Why are black holes important?
Black holes can teach us great things about gravity. Black holes merge different kinds of physics, general relativity over thermodynamics and quantum field theory and particle and collider physics. Black holes teach us about Planck scale physics and the onset of quantum gravity.
What research is being done on black holes?
Scientists say it may be possible to produce tiny black holes using particle colliders. Stephen Hawking has new research that black holes, as we currently understand them, do not exist. Instead of all-consuming event horizons and black holes which nothing can escape from, Hawking now proposes that there are “apparent horizons” which suck in matter and energy — but only temporarily, before eventually releasing them again.
Links
I was surprised that black holes can be as small as a single atom. I always thought that they would be big enough to at least see. I also never realized that you couldn't photograph the inside of a black hole. It was also interesting to read that if a black hole replaced our sun then nothing would change (except for the light being gone). Overall the most interesting thing I learned about black holes is the fact that we don't know that much at all about black holes and that the physics involved are mostly theoretical.
ReplyDeleteWowie... cool stuff, Bro. That's a lot of info you have there, however, I still have plenty of questions. In the traditional theory of black holes (not Hawking's version), where does the mass and light that gets sucked into the black hole go? Does it get compressed into the core or does it go back in time to save humanity from itself? What is Planck scale physics? How do black holes relate to nuclear chemistry other than in their formation? What does imagining a grapefruit on the moon supposed to help you visualize about a black hole? (I really don't get that one) Despite all of the questions, I learned quite a bit, thanks. All I can really say is: RIP Mrs. Tate's theory of gravity not affecting gas particles.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that we know this much about black holes with no photographic evidence to analyze. I was surprised to find out black holes were created when stars collapse on themselves as I have always that black holes were just created and waited to be discovered. I think it would be interesting to know how scientist obtain the information they do without themselves or their research caught to the point of no return. We still no very little abut black holes and I think there still needs to be a lot of developments before we can truly begin to concretely understand black holes.
ReplyDeleteThis stuff is really fascinating, we don't know much about them and everything we do know is mainly theoretical. The possible explanations for black holes are pretty endless and many of our scientific rules we have established don't even seem to apply to the black hole.
ReplyDelete