What is a black hole?
A black hole is a region of space packed with so much matter that its own gravity prevents anything from escaping – even a ray of light. Black holes can form when massive stars run out of fuel and collapse under their own weight, creating such strong gravity that they disappear from view. Although completely invisible, a black hole exerts a gravitational pull on surrounding matter.
In its simplest sense, a black hole is an area of space wherein there is no way for an object to escape its gravitational pull. Do black holes exist? Astronomers certainly believe they do, though confirmation of black holes can not currently be made by direct evidence. Items contained in a black hole will remain there for an infinite period of time. In a black hole, there is a huge concentration of mass. This is what gives the black hole its gravitational strength. Scientists generally agree that black holes are formed following the death of a massive star. As we know, the sun is a star, but scientists do not think the sun is large enough to ever have the capacity to create a black hole upon its death. Rather, for a dying star to create a black hole it would have to weigh ten times more than our sun itself. Because a black hole has such intense gravitational pull, nothing can escape it, not even light. This lack of light accounts for the term “black” hole, as the gravitational forces w
A black hole is defined by the escape velocity that would have to be attained to escape from the gravitational pull exerted upon an object. For example, the escape velocity of earth is equal to 11 km/s. Anything that wants to escape earth’s gravitational pull must go at least 11 km/s, no matter what the thing is &151 a rocket ship or a baseball. The escape velocity of an object depends on how compact it is; that is, the ratio of its mass to radius. A black hole is an object so compact that, within a certain distance of it, even the speed of light is not fast enough to escape.
