What is a Black Hole?

Ever heard of the most destructive thing in the universe? Black holes aren’t perceived as an immediate threat to mankind and are therefore not given much importance by the general public. Black holes are basically the result of a star's self-destructing. Black holes are formed when a star runs out of hydrogen fuel and collapses on itself due to the gravity pulling it inwards. Then, after being sucked in, it suddenly explodes outwards, which is called a supernova. After this, a black hole is formed. A black hole, like the name says, is a hole that attracts everything around by the force of gravity. Yes, gravity, the same thing that is keeping you in your chair, stopping you from floating into the sky. Scientists have a hard time learning about black holes because going within a specific range of black holes will cause the object to be sucked inwards. The scarier thing is that nothing that goes in can ever come out.

Now, why is a black hole called a “black hole”?The term comes from the idea that the black hole sucks in all colors of light which leads us to perceive a black hole as black with the human eye. If all light was reflected back, the black hole would be seen as white. The “hole” part comes from the fact that the black hole is similar to a hole in space that is a singularity, an area where there is infinitely dense mass.

Scientists don’t know what lies on the other side of the black hole. There are many theories including another dimension that leads somewhere really far off in the universe. Or, maybe, there is no end. Using Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, which is the same theory that explains a lot of things about black holes, scientists believe that the end of a black hole never ends. Who knows? Maybe decades later, we might be able to figure out what happens inside these great space phenomena. But as of right now, scientists can only speculate.

Picture Credit: space.com