Black Holes

A Black Hole is an area of space where the gravitational pull is so strong that not even light can escape. It is created when a large star dies and collapses into a small area. The mass of a black hole is so great that it causes a deep curvature in the space-time continuum, which means that time and space become twisted around it. The radius at which this occurs is known as the Schwarzschild radius, which is proportional to the mass of the black hole. For example, a black hole with the mass of the sun would have a Schwarzschild radius of about three kilometers. The event horizon of a black hole is the boundary at which even light cannot escape the gravitational pull. Anything that passes this boundary is lost forever. Fun Fact: Astronomers believe that the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, called Sagittarius A*, has a mass four million times that of the sun! Black holes are powerful phenomena in the universe and have been studied extensively. They remain mysterious and full of surprises!