Astronomy 1020 Lab Final Will Black Holes Destroy Earth?

Taemin Im

Astronomy 1020

April 18, 2016

Will Black Holes Destroy Earth?

        Black holes are one of the biggest mysteries of the universe. Known for its destructive powers and imaginative capabilities, we still do not completely understand this phenomena. The unknown factors of a black hole instill fear and questions for mankind. Fortunately, scientists know enough to put some of the danger theories to rest. To answer the question, will black holes destroy Earth, you must first understand a little more about black holes.

        A black hole is a region in space where not even light can escape the massive gravitational pull. The strong gravity is created when matter is pressed into a tiny space. This effect can take place during the end of a star’s life. Contrary to its name, a black hole is actually invisible to the eye since all light is absorbed by the gravitational pull. Because it is invisible, scientists need special instruments to observe the behavior of material and stars that are very close to black holes to find it. Just recently astronomers claimed to have taken their first picture of a real black hole. This historic capture is one of the few tangible evidences we will have of the massive mystery that surrounds astronomy. Unfortunately, we won’t know for sure until the all 500TB of data is combed through for the next few months. NASA use spacecraft like the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Swift satellite, and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to answers questions about the origin, evolution, and destiny of the universe.

        The size of black holes are categorized into 3 main types depending on the size and mass. Scientists believe the smallest black holes can be as small as a single atom but with the mass of a large mountain. This category of black holes are called primordial black holes.  The most common type of medium-sized black hole is called a stellar black hole. The mass of a stellar can equate to about 20 times greater than the sun and can fit inside a ball of 10 miles diameter. The largest black holes are called “supermassive.” These black holes can have masses greater than a million suns combined and would fit snug inside a ball with a diameter the size of our solar system.

        Now with all this being said, black holes are not monsters wandering the universe seeking to swallow up worlds. Just like every object in space, black holes also follow the laws of gravity. The orbit of a black hole would have to be very close to the solar system to affect Earth, which is not likely. For example, if a black hole was to be in our solar system, let’s say that the sun was replaced by a black hole with the same mass, the planets would still orbit the black hole as they orbit the sun now.

        Scientists have created the largest, most powerful particle accelerator ever called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). One of the Large Hadron Collider’s goals is to stimulate microscopic black holes that might have been generated in the first few moments of the Big Bang. This feat have left some people worrying that these artificially created black holes will get loose, consume the Earth, and eventually destroy the solar system. Fortunately for mankind, this will not be the case.

        One reason our mini man made black holes will never eat up the planet is because it’s not strong enough. The Large Hadron Collider may be the first to create particles in a laboratory setting, but the Earth has been continuously smacked by natural particles created by energy more than a hundred million times greater than what we create at the LHC. “To give a sense of scale, the LHC collides particles together with a total energy of 13 trillion (or tera) electron volts of energy (TeV). The highest-energy cosmic ray ever recorded was an unfathomable 300,000,000 TeV of energy,” said Don Lincoln, Senior Scientist, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Since the entire history of our Solar System, the great cosmic rays have passed through the moon, Sun, and Earth from all directions and there is absolutely no evidence of harm due to black holes.