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What happens to the matter in a black hole?
When matter falls into or comes closer than the event horizon of a black hole, it becomes isolated from the rest of space-time. It can never leave that region. Once inside the black hole’s event horizon, matter will be torn apart into its smallest subatomic components and eventually be squeezed into the singularity.
Why do the laws of physics break down in a black hole?
Our current thinking about a black hole is that there has to be a singularity inside it. A singularity is a point of infinite density and infinite curvature of space time. So, two ways by which black holes break the laws of physics as we know them are the singularity and the information paradox.
What is in the middle of a black hole?
Singularity. At the center of a black hole, as described by general relativity, may lie a gravitational singularity, a region where the spacetime curvature becomes infinite.
Are black holes solid matter?
When astronomers speak about them, they often make an unintentional impression that they are some kind solid objects. They are not. A black hole is a spacetime singularity that is enclosed by an event horizon. Both things are quite weird, but none of them is anything solid.
Do black holes get bigger when they eat material?
Yes. The late physicist Stephen Hawking proposed that while black holes get bigger by eating material, they also slowly shrink because they are losing tiny amounts of energy called “Hawking radiation.” Hawking radiation occurs because empty space, or the vacuum, is not really empty.
What is a black hole simple definition?
Black Holes. Don’t let the name fool you: a black hole is anything but empty space. Rather, it is a great amount of matter packed into a very small area – think of a star ten times more massive than the Sun squeezed into a sphere approximately the diameter of New York City.
What happens to matter when it is pulled into a black hole?
Matter is heated to millions of degrees as it is pulled toward the black hole, so it glows in X-rays. The immense gravity of black holes also distorts space itself, so it is possible to see the influence of an invisible gravitational pull on stars and other objects.
How much mass does it take to create a black hole?
If the core’s mass is more than about three times the mass of the Sun, the equations showed, the force of gravity overwhelms all other forces and produces a black hole. A video about black holes.