Black holes
What is a black hole?
Black holes are some of the strangest and most fascinating objects found in the outer space. They are objects of extreme density, with such strong gravitational attraction that they eat up everything around them including light. This can happen when a star is dying.
What gives them the enormous power?
Have you ever used vacuum cleaner in your home? When you do, watch closely because you will see the dirt and crumbs start moving towards the vacuum cleaner. A black hole is similar to a vacuum cleaner, cleaning up the debris that is left behind in the outer space. Instead of suction power, a black hole uses the power of gravity to pull things towards it.
How big are black holes?
Black holes can be big or small. Scientists think the smallest black holes are as small as just one atom. Another kind of black hole is called 'Stellar.' Its mass can be up to 20 times more than the mass of the Sun. Stellar black holes are made when the centre of a very big star falls in upon itself or collapses. The largest black holes are called 'supermassive.' These black holes have mass that is more than 1 million Suns put together have.. The supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy is called Sagittarius A. It has a mass equal to about 4 million Suns.
Could a black hole destroy Earth?
Black holes do not go around in space, eating stars and planets. Earth will not fall into a black hole because no black hole is close enough to the solar system for Earth to do that. The Sun will never turn into a black hole. The Sun is not a big enough star to make a black hole.
The first image of a black hole:
Since no light can get out, people can't see black holes. They are invisible. Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes.
The Event Horizon Telescope, a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescope forged through international collaboration, captured the image of the supermassive black hole in the centre of the galaxy M87 and its shadow.
This historic photo of a black hole, previously thought impossible to capture, was named ‘the top scientific breakthrough of 2019 by the journal Science.
