Into the Depths of A Black Hole
Into the Depths of A Black Hole
Everyday we look out upon the night sky, wondering and dreaming of what
lies beyond our planet. The universe that we live in is so diverse and unique,
it interests us to learn about all the variance that lies beyond our grasp.
Within this marvel of wonders, our universe holds a mystery that is very
difficult to understand, because of the complications that arise when trying to
examine and explore the principles of space. That mystery happens to be that of
black holes. As you will read about black holes, you can finally appreciate
the phenomenon, we all know as, black holes.
In order to understand what exactly a black hole is, we must first take a
look at the basis for the cause of a black hole. All black holes are formed
from the gravitational collapse of a star, usually having a great, massive, core.
A star is created when huge, gigantic, gas clouds bind together due to
attractive forces and form a hot core, combined from all the energy of the two
gas clouds. This energy produced is so great when it first collides, that a
nuclear reaction occurs, and the gases within the star start to burn
continuously. The Hydrogen gas is usually the first type of gas consumed in a
star and then other gas elements such as Carbon, Oxygen, and Helium are consumed.
This chain reaction fuels the star for millions, or billions, of years
depending upon the amount of gases there are. The star manages to avoid
collapsing at this point because of the equilibrium achieved by itself. The
gravitational pull from the core of the star is equal to the gravitational pull
of the gases forming a type of orbit, however when this equality is broken the
star can go into several different stages. Usually if the star is small in mass,
most of the gases will be consumed while some of it escapes. This occurs
because there is not a tremendous gravitational pull upon those gases and
therefore the star weakens and becomes smaller. It is then referred to as a
'White Dwarf'. If the star was to have a larger mass however, then it may
possibly Supernova, meaning that the nuclear fusion within the star simply goes
out of control causing the star to explode. After exploding a fraction of the
star is usually left (if it has not turned into pure gas) and that fraction of
the star is known as a neutron star. Black holes are one of the last option
that a star may take. If the core of the star is so massive (approximately 68
solar masses; one solar mass being equal to the sun's mass), then it is most
likely that when the star's gases are almost consumed those gases will collapse
inward, forced into the core by the gravitational force laid upon them.
After a black hole is created, the gravitational force continues to pull in
space debris and other type of matters to help add to the mass of the core,
making the hole stronger and more powerful. Most black holes tend to be in a
consistent spinning motion. This motion absorbs various matter and spins it
within the ring (known as the Event Horizon) that is formed around the black
hole. The matter keeps within the Event Horizon until it has spun into the
centre where it is concentrated within the core adding to the mass. Such
spinning black holes are known as Kerr Black Holes. Most black holes orbit
around stars due to the fact that they once were a star, and this may cause some
problems for the neighboring stars. If a black hole gets powerful enough it may
actually pull a star into it and disrupt the orbit of many other stars. The
black hole could then grow even stronger (from the star's mass) as to possibly
absorb another.
When a black hole absorbs a star, the star is first pulled into the
Ergosphere, which sweeps all the matter into the Event Horizon, named for it's
flat horizontal appearance and because this happens to be the place where mostly
all the action within the black hole occurs. When the star is passed on into
the Event Horizon the light that the star endures is bent within the current and
therefore cannot be seen in space. At this exact point in time, high amounts of
radiation are given
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