Black holes… what the heck are they?    

What exactly is a black hole? Most people understand the gist of it namely; that it is a point in outer space that is so dense that it’s gravitational pull can even capture light [1]. However, recently I decided to delve deeper into this conundrum of the cosmos so I did some research on black holes and their formation. What I found was both fascinating and confusing so what I have decided to do is compile the information I found into a form that is both informative and easy to understand.

Formation: To begin, I will describe the conditions required in order for a stellar black hole (the most common type of black hole) to form.

1. Massive star: Firstly, in order for a black hole to form you need to have an incredibly massive star. The star required has to be at least 20 times the mass of our own sun [2] . To put this into perspective consider the fact that our sun makes of 99% of the total mass of our solar system [3]. Also, consider that the sun is 330,000 times larger than Earth and that the star required is 20 times larger than our sun, With this in mind, you can truly start to grasp the immensity of the stars in question.

2. Death of a star: Secondly, in order for a black hole to form the massive star in question has to die (like Mel Gibson’s public image). In order, for this to happen the star has to burn through all of the elements in its core in a process known as fusion. Fusion is when under immense heat and pressure two smaller elements combine and form heavier larger elements [4] . However, after billions or years of this process the heat and pressure in a star is no longer able to fuse the heavier elements. Because there is no longer a balance between the energy released by a star and it’s inward gravitational force the star starts to collapse inwards.

3. Crushing electron and neutron cores: In a smaller star, once the gravitational pressure reaches a certain point the electrons inside the stars atoms start to resist the inward pressure. This creates a balance between outward and inward pressure and this is what forms a white dwarf. However, if the stars mass is large enough the electron’s will be unable to stop the inward collapse and will be forced to combine with the atoms protons, forming neutrons. With most stars this neutron core will be dense enough to deflect the collapsing outer core and will form a supernova. However, in a truly massive star not even the neutrons can resist the collapsing outer core and will continuously fall inward’s forming a black hole.

Black hole fun facts:

• There are three main types of black holes primordial black holes (size of an atom, mass of a mountain), stellar black holes (the one formed in the death of a star), and supermassive black holes (found in the center of galaxies, mass of 10 million suns).

• Black holes are not black they are actually invisible, we only know of their existence by observing their effect on other bodies in outer space.

• Despite common belief black holes do not wander the universe consuming everything in their path. Instead, they behave like any other massive solar boy.

• Black holes are examined by using X-rays.

With this information and these fun facts you are now ready to impress your friends with you general knowledge on black holes. Make sure you tune in next week for some more fun cosmos based blogging,