Black Holes

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07 05 2018

Black Holes

In reality, the hole cannot exist as it is merely an indirect way of describing the object or entity the hole is inside of. A hole in a wall, for example, can be described as deep or round however, these characteristics are ultimately attributes of the wall and not the hole. Ultimately the wall is the only existing object as the hole is a property of the wall. (Romero 2010)

Black holes are understood through the alterations in the space-time concept. Space-time can be regarded as the relational property of all things. One space-time value is made up of different co-ordinates to provide dimension, (Romero 2010)

Einstein’s theory of general relativity stated that strong gravity possesses the ability to change the geometrics of the spacetime concept to the point at which a black hole is formed. The dark attribute is due to inability of any light to escape from the black hole. (Ashtekar 2015)

Astronomers have been able to observe stars which have a mass greater than 20 solar masses. A solar mass is a system of units used to relate mass to properties of the sun. One solar mass is about 2×1030 kg. (Clugston 1998)

Although black holes can not be seen we know that they exist based on the way they affect nearby dust, stars and even galaxies. The Milky Way as well as most other galaxies have supermassive black holes at the center. (Sean Lehane 2014)

Supernova explosions occur when these huge stars explode and some of the mass from the core of the star remains. The theory states that if material remaining is more than 2 to 3 solar masses it will collapse under its own weight. The material will then be obliterated by the force of resulting gravity into an object smaller than a neutron star. (Armosky 2014)

Black holes are massive in size but compacted into a tiny space and hence there is a strong gravitational pull exerted onto the surrounding materials. Identifying the existence and situation of super-massive black holes is defined by the measurement of the velocity at which stars orbit the black hole. The larger the size of the black hole, the higher the speed of acceleration of the nearby stars. The mass of the black hole is revealed by relation of the velocities of the stars surrounding it. (Armosky 2014)

Clouds of gas orbit the black hole and these emit radio waves as well as other forms of energy. The changes in the speed (velocity) of the gaseous clouds in relation to earth allows the mass of the black hole to be determined easily due to their circular orbit behaviors. (Armosky 2014)

The surrounding areas of gas which encircle black holes are also known as accretion disks. In the case where the black hole is the size of a star the gas is usually originating from a companion star found in the near vicinity. Due to the high gravitational pull caused by the black hole the gas is pulled from the companion star’s surface. Supermassive black holes the source of the gas could extend to be from stars which pass close to the black hole and are torn apart by the gravitational force. The spiraling of the gas into the black hole leads to the formation of the flat, wide accretion disk. The gas increases in temperature as it moves with higher velocity and the gas then radiates in UV or X-ray wavelengths. Although these wavelengths are blocked by the Earth’s atmosphere, telescopes situated in space are able detect them. (Armosky 2014)