The Ultimate Abyss Where Even Light Is Not Fast Enough To Escape

The Gargantua black hole from Interstellar. Credit: Double Negative

Black Holes

“The ultimate abyss where even light is not fast enough to escape"

Introduction

In the vast emptiness of space where the light of stars is but a distant memory, lies the ultimate abyss, the black hole, taunting us with its mystical nature as we stare into the infinite depths of the night sky. But what exactly are these mysterious celestial bodies, and what secrets do they hold?

What are Black Holes?

Black Holes are incredibly dense regions of space where gravity is so strong that even light can't escape. When a massive star dies its core collapses on itself, creating an extremely dense point known as The Singularity. The boundary around the black hole from which nothing can escape is known as The Event Horizon. Black Holes are invisible because nothing including light can escape them, the only way to detect a black hole is to observe the intense effect the Black Hole’s gravity is having on its surroundings around it.

The Event Horizon -

The Event Horizon is the boundary of the Black Hole from which the gravitational force of the Black Hole becomes so strong nothing can escape, the event horizon is often called “the point of no return”, not even light can escape the gravity of the black hole in The Event Horizon.

The Singularity - 

The Singularity is a point of infinite density and zero volume, a point in space where the gravitation pull is infinitely strong and infinitely dense. All the mass of a Black Hole is concentrated in The Singularity. The singularity is located at the centre of the Black Hole inside the Event Horizon.

How are Black Holes formed?

Black Holes are formed When massive stars (at least 20 the mass of our sun) have exhausted the nuclear fuel inside their core and can no longer generate the energy needed to counteract the force of gravity, the star collapses in on itself with a supernova explosion. Just as an example of how dense these celestial bodies are; if a star 20 times the size of our sun was to go supernova and form a Black Hole about 3 solar masses (much of the mass drives off into space), the Black Hole’s radius would just be 9 kilometres or just about 5 miles. The radius of a Black Hole can be calculated with the help of the Schwarzschild Radius.

Types of Black Holes.

Stellar black holes

These are the most common type of Black Holes formed from the collapse of a single massive star; their masses can range from multiple solar masses to tens of solar masses.

Intermediate - Mass Black Holes

These Black Holes have masses between those of Steller and Super Massive Black Holes. These are thought to have formed from the merger of two Steller Black Holes.

Super Massive Black Holes

These are the largest kind of Black Holes and are found at the centre of most galaxies including our own. They have masses that can reach from millions to billions of times our sun. The way these Black Holes are formed isn't clear as there is no star giant enough to collapse into a Super Massive Black Hole. The Milky Way has the Super Massive Black Hole. 'Sagittarius A' at its centre.

The First-ever Image of a black hole.

Image of the Sagittarius A black hole

at the centre of the milky way, captured

by the Event Horizon Telescope.

Conclusion

It is important to note that almost all the things we know about Black Holes are just theorized and based on Einstein’s general theory of relativity. And we can't be sure about anything. It’s all based on a piece of literature composed more than a century ago.

These celestial objects that astronomers and people alike seem to be fascinated by are inaccessible to humans, for now, but for how long?