What is an event horizon in simple terms? The ‘event horizon’ is the boundary defining the region of space around a black hole from which nothing (not even light) can escape. In other words, the escape velocity for an object within...
Where is the Event Horizon Telescope? The EHT array consists of telescopes in France, Spain, Greenland, Chile, the United States (Arizona and Hawaii), Mexico, and the South Pole. What does the Event Horizon Telescope do? The Event Horizon Telescope is a...
What is an event horizon in simple terms? The ‘event horizon’ is the boundary defining the region of space around a black hole from which nothing (not even light) can escape. In other words, the escape velocity for an object within...
Why does a black hole have to have a singularity? So long as particles — including force-carrying particles — are limited by the speed of light, there’s no way to have a stable, non-singular structure inside a black hole. What is...
Which was the last part of the planet forming process? The final stage of accretion has been described as ‘runaway accretion’. Planetesimals are swept up into well defined zones around the sun which approximate to the present orbits of the terrestrial...
Why is locating black holes difficult? Black holes are hard to find. They have such strong gravity that light can’t escape them, so scientists must rely on clues from their surroundings to find them. When a star weighing more than 20...
What is Hawking black hole theory? In 1976, Hawking suggested that, as black holes evaporate, they destroy information about what had formed them. That idea goes against a fundamental law of quantum mechanics which states any process in physics can be...
How is a black hole formed simple? Stellar black holes form when the center of a very massive star collapses in upon itself. This collapse also causes a supernova, or an exploding star, that blasts part of the star into space....
What happens when black hole dies? New black hole simulations that incorporate quantum gravity indicate that when a black hole dies, it produces a gravitational shock wave that radiates information, a finding that could solve the information paradox. How long do...
Is there anything inside a black hole? The singularity at the center of a black hole is the ultimate no man’s land: a place where matter is compressed down to an infinitely tiny point, and all conceptions of time and space...