Black Holes

By Kelsey Nau

A black hole is simply a region of space where the gravitational force is so strong that nothing can escape it. A black hole forms when an object becomes unable to withstand the compression force of its own gravity. Even light isn’t fast enough to escape, since the speed of light is slower than the black hole’s escape velocity.

We do not know much about black holes but we do know that all black holes are identical except for 3 characteristic properties: mass, spin and the electric charge. They obey all the laws of physics as well as the laws of gravity. The size of them could range from 6 miles to the size of our solar system!

No one knows what lies inside of a black hole. Even if we could send an explorer in there, they would never be able to communicate back to us what it was like. Theories predict that all of the matter in a black hole is built up in the center of it. The theory allows unusual characteristics like how the central point might be a bridge to a separate universe!

There are so many black holes in the universe; it would be impossible to count them all. Mass black holes form from massive stars when their lives end. There are over 100 billion stars in the Milky Way and about 1 in a thousand become black holes.

Since nothing can escape black holes gravitational force, it was long thought that black holes were impossible to destroy but we now know that black holes evaporate and return their energy to the universe. A black hole as massive as a cruise ship would disappear in a flash in less than a second. Black holes are light years away from Earth so there is no threat to us.