What are black holes?
I would like to begin by summarizing the full extent of the human species’s understanding of quantum mechanics: nothing makes sense under any circumstance because everything we know about big things apparently doesn’t apply when things get small enough. If quantum mechanics doesn’t make sense—if the world of subatomic particles eludes any of The Ontarion’s readers—worry not, for you are joined by the likes of Einstein, Hawking, and Oppenheimer.
Make no mistake, dear reader; the world of the very small might be confusing, but the world of the very big is one that we have—more or less—conquered. Remember that, until only quite recently, we had no real evidence that subatomic particles even existed. As such, humanity spent most of its time trying to understand the Universe.
When it comes to the realms beyond planet Earth, humans have an essential understanding of the way planetary bodies behave. Since the dawn of time, our ancestors have puzzled over the entities in the night sky; today, humanity effectively understands the way solar bodies interact with other solar bodies. Since the moment humanity has been able to look to the sky, they’ve asked a simple question: what is that giant ball up there, and why has it not annihilated me yet?
My vagueness is intentional, simply because our ability to observe our Universe is dependent on our ability to actually see our Universe. Black holes are cosmic events that occur when a star supernovas. It is important to recognize that not every star will supernova, and not every supernova will result in a black hole. Black holes are mathematically determined points of space-time; their force of gravity is so strong that nothing—including light—is able to escape their pull.
How do black holes work?
The sun, of course, is not the only star in existence. Indeed, the sun’s particular mass isn’t even the largest in our Universe. Due to our sun’s mass, it will be unable to form a black hole. Instead, it will expand into a red giant before eventually collapsing into a white dwarf.
A star typically needs to have a mass equal to at least 25 times greater than that of our sun to form a black hole. Between 10 and 25 solar masses would, however, result in a neutron star, while anything less than 10 solar masses would most likely result in a white dwarf.
To form a black hole, a large star must first supernova. To supernova, the core of a large star must collapse under the pressure of gravity. A star’s core undergoing gravitational collapse incites a brilliant explosion that outshines anything else in a star’s galaxy. There are two possible outcomes that result from a supernova. First, the collapsed star’s gravitational pull is not strong enough to prevent light and other particles from escaping. Second, the collapsed star’s gravitational pull is absolutely strong enough to prevent light and other particles from escaping. The second outcome forms a black hole.
A quick note on singularities and event horizons: A singularity is a point where a cosmic body’s gravitational field becomes infinite. Event horizons can be thought of as points of no return. Before an event horizon, there is hope of escaping a black hole, at the point of a black hole’s event horizon—and past the event horizon—nothing will be able to escape the black hole’s pull.
Why are black holes important?
Though it is impossible to escape a black hole’s pull, it is not accurate to suggest that a black hole destroys everything it inhales. Quite the contrary, because of the nature of gravity, time would actually appear to remain the same once an individual crosses an event horizon. The study of black holes is important because of the nature of a black hole’s existence. We know that black holes exist and we know that black holes are real—we just don’t know what really happens after particles cross the event horizon.
What is the future of black holes?
We have no reason to fear black holes because our own sun will never collapse into such a phenomenon. Even if a black hole with the mass of our sun were to completely replace the sun, we would remain unharmed because of the wording of such a statement. A black hole with the mass of our sun means that it has the same gravitational force as our sun.
The centre of our galaxy—much like the centres of all galaxies—contains a supermassive black hole. I’m not excited for the absurd possibilities. After all, black holes seem quite absurd to begin with.