It is certain that if you speak of the universe and the galaxies you have heard of the black holes. They are very feared and it is thought that they are capable of swallowing everything that enters it to disintegrate it. Today we are going to talk about these elements of the universe and the importance or danger they have. You will be able to know what black holes are, how they are formed and some curiosities about them.
If you want to know more about it, this is your post 🙂
What are black holes
These black holes are nothing more than the remains of ancient stars that have ceased to exist. Stars usually have a dense amount of materials and particles and, therefore, a large amount of gravitational force. You just have to see how the Sun is capable of having 8 planets and other stars surrounding it in a continuous way. Thanks to the gravity of the Sun is why the Solar system. The Earth is attracted to it, but it does not mean that we are getting closer and closer to the Sun.
Many stars end their lives as white dwarfs or neutron stars. Black holes are the last phase in the evolution of these stars that were much larger than the Sun. Although the Sun is thought to be large, it is still a medium star (or even small if we compare it with others). . This is how there are stars 10 and 15 times the size of the Sun that, when they cease to exist, form a black hole.
As these giant stars reach the end of their lives, they explode in a huge cataclysm that we know as a supernova. In this explosion, most of the star is dispersed through space and its pieces will wander through space for a long time. Not all of the star explodes and scatters. The other material that remains "cold" is the one that does not melt.
When a star is young, nuclear fusion creates energy and a constant pressure due to gravity with the outside. This pressure and the energy it creates is what keeps it in balance. Gravity is created by the star's own mass. On the other hand, in the inert remains that remain after the supernova there is no force that can resist the attraction of its gravity, so what remains of the star begins to fold back on itself. This is what black holes generate.
Characteristics of black holes
Without any force being able to stop the action of gravity, a black hole emerges that is capable of shrinking all space and compressing it until it reaches zero volume. At this point, the density can be said to be infinite. That is to say, the amount of matter that can be in that zero volume is infinite. Therefore, the gravity of that black point is infinite as well. There is nothing that can escape such a force of attraction.
In this case, not even the light that the star possessed is capable of escaping the gravitational force and is trapped by the orbit on itself. For this reason it is called a black hole, since not even light is able to shine in this volume of infinite density and gravity.
Although gravity is only infinite at the point of zero volume where space folds in on itself, these black holes pull matter and energy toward each other. However, do not be afraid since the force with which they attract other bodies is not greater than that of any star or cosmic object other material of the universe.
In other words, a black hole the size of our Sun could not attract us to it with greater force than the Sun itself has. A black hole the size of the Sun could well be the center of the Solar System that the Earth would orbit over it in the same way. In fact, it is known that the center of the Milky Way (the galaxy where we are) is made up of a black hole.
Black hole power
Although it has always been thought that a black hole draws everything around it to itself and engulfs it, this is not the case. In order for planets, light, and other materials to be swallowed by a black hole, it must pass too close to it to be attracted to its center of action. Once the point of no return is reached, You have entered the event horizon, where it is impossible to escape.
And it is that to be able to move once the event horizon has been entered, we would have to be able to move at a speed greater than at which light travels. Black holes are very small in size. A black hole like those found in the center of some galaxies, it can have a radius of about 3 million kilometers. This is roughly 4 suns like ours.
If a black hole had the mass of our Sun, it would only have a diameter of 3 kilometers. As always, these dimensions can be tremendously scary, but everything in the universe is like that.
Dynamic
Being so small in size and dark, we cannot observe them directly. Because of this, scientists have long doubted its existence. Something that is known to be there but that cannot be seen directly. In order to see a black hole, you have to measure the mass of a region of space and look for areas where there is a large amount of dark mass.
Many of the black holes are found within binary systems. These attract large amounts of mass from the star around them. As this mass attracts, They get bigger and bigger. There comes a time when the companion star from which you are extracting the mass completely vanishes.
I hope this helps to understand more about black holes.