The Properties of Black Holes

606 Words2 Pages

In modern day physics, Black Holes have dominated the spotlight for quite some time. While the concept has answered many questions, it has also introduced hundreds more. There is believed to be a black hole at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy. Black holes were first proven to exist in the 1970’s when a few scientists identified a black hole called Cygnus X-1. Since then, an intense amount of study has been dedicated to discovering the various properties of black holes.
Merriam Webster defines a black hole as: a celestial object that has a gravitational field so strong that light cannot escape it and that is believed to be created especially in the collapse of a very massive star. The idea of a black hole was first proposed by a one John Michell in the 1700’s. The idea itself was not actively pursued until after Einstein’s theories of general relativity were accepted. Scientist pre-Einstein could not comprehend how a wave such as light could hypothetically be influenced by a force such as gravity. However, when Einstein opened the door, black holes suddenly became a possibility, and it took a better half of a century before their existence could be proven, let alone monitored. Now, we have a better understanding of what black holes are, and how they come to be.
Black holes are believed to be the result of the explosion of a very large star, at least 25 times larger than our own. When the star explodes, much of its matter is blown out into space, resulting in a supernova. However, some of it condenses into a black hole. The approximate mass of the resulting black hole is probably slightly larger than the mass of our sun. There are black holes of much larger sizes, however, and they are gener...

... middle of paper ...

...he black hole, weird things which we cannot explain occur. A point of singularity occurs, at which point the matter acts as one particle, or so some believe. There are other theories, stating that the sheet, if you will, tears creating a hole leading to something, something we can only conjecture at. One theory believes it is a wormhole, leading to a point far away in the universe, another theory states that it leads to a whole new universe. What actually lies at the center, we will likely not learn for a very, very long time, it is reasonable enough, however, to say that the knowledge will likely not become available until much longer after we are very dead.

Works Cited

Marel, R., & Kleijn, G. (2004, Jan 18) BLACK HOLES: Gravity’s Relentless Pull. Retrieved from http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/home.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole

Open Document