What are black holes?

15 Mar 2020

What are black holes?In our space news, we keep reading about black holes. We know that there are different kinds of black holes being discovered. But what are they actually?

At the most basic level, a black hole is a lot of mass squished into a very tiny volume.
 	It makes for an entity so so dense, that not even light can escape its gravity.
 	Just like Earth's gravity holds us down, a black hole also tries to hold onto anything that gets too close to it, with its gravity. If something falls into it, it can never get out. Thankfully, our Earth is nowhere near a black hole!

How are black holes formed?

A star (they are all made of gases) generates a lot of energy at its core, which counters the pressure of all its mass being pulled in by its gravity.
 	Once it can't generate that energy anymore, the core collapses. It goes on collapsing into itself.
 	That's what makes a black hole. All that mass collapse into a very tiny volume, becoming so dense that even light can't escape. Hence the name 'black' hole.

A black hole is something like a vacuum cleaner. Anything in its direct path and close to it is going to be sucked in. But if a space object is not too close to the black hole, it won't get pulled in. However, the black hole's gravitational pull is still going to redirect the object's path in some way.

Recommended for Middle Grades

In our space news, we keep reading about black holes. We know that there are different kinds of black holes being discovered. But what are […]

To read more...

Share your comment! Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

To post your comment Login/Signup