The Mystery Behind Black Holes

What are black holes and how do they form?

 The most interesting object in the known universe, the black hole an object which can exert an unbelievable magnitude of gravity that light orbits it. Simply, a black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape its singularity. I think I'm getting ahead of myself here, what is a singularity, it is a region of spacetime that has extreme gravitational conditions that physics laws break down and space-time no longer exists meaning there is now when and where (A singularity is also the center of the black hole). But how do such large black holes form in the first place, well it's all mass and gravity (Read the What is Gravity article a few scrolls below). I spoke about space-time curvature before and blackholes follow the same concept, too much mass in a single point makes a space-time singularity which acts as a huge gravitational well that sucks in all matter ( A visual representation of this is in the picture below), this occurs when there is so much mass on a singular small point, the density is so large that the curvature is extremely steep. There are 3 types of black holes, stellar-mass black holes, supermassive black holes, and intermediate-mass black holes, stellar-mass black holes form when large stars fall in on themselves, intermediate-mass blackholes as rare as they also from off collapsing stars but on a smaller scale and finally supermassive black holes, the ones that lie in the center of galaxies.   One final thing I would like to clarify is that black holes ARE 3D holes meaning they are spherical, I will have another blog soon about dimensions and why we only see 3 spatial ones.

Visual representation of how black holes bend spacetime into a well-like shape

Famous image of black hole image that also correctly represents how black holes distort light around it therefore making the image look warped.

What happens as something approaches a black hole?

I think the most interesting thing about black holes is what lies inside them, where does all that information go (Information Paradox and Hawking Radiation next blog :D) but right now no one knows; so let's go onto the second most interesting topic what happens as one approaches the menace. Unless something is being swallowed by the black hole in the accretion disc, then you would notice its existence as you slowly feel the gravitational pressure pull you down. Eventually, the gravity would exponentially increase in power every few inches, this means if you were to go feet first, the pressure on your feet would be more than that on your head. Each part of your body would increase in length as the gravity intensifies and you eventually become a spaghetti :(. As the light's orbit decreases and accelerates, you will be able to see the back of your head before falling into the unknown, no one knows what is behind the event horizon (point of no return), if you were to try to light a torch, its light would not reach the outside as it is pulled back into the dark hole ( this the reason we cannot see past the event horizon). An interesting concept that lies behind falling in is how an observer would see it; due to the strength of the gravitation field, he would see you slowing down the closer you got to the singularity, this is an example of relative space-time as a second for you is smaller than a millisecond for him.

Inside a black hole

M87 Supermassive Black Hole Image

Amazing image provided by NASA that explains aspects of the blackhole simply.

Final Thoughts

Nothing really :D, understanding this post will be fundamental to comprehending the concepts of the next blog, so if you have questions go to the "Ask Away" section.