Frequently asked questions: black hole edition

As with any blog entry, when I sat down to write about black holes, I had a think about what I already knew about them, and how I could use this to inform what I wrote. But this time all I could come up with was the 2006 song ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ by Muse. It’s an absolute tune and, not going to lie, I listened to it for inspiration, but actually it tells us nothing about black holes. So instead, I have tried to answer my own set of FAQs that should give us all a bit of a better understanding of what a black hole is and does.

What is a black hole?

NASA defines black holes as regions in space where a great amount of matter is packed into a very small area. The result is a gravitational force so strong that nothing can escape. Most black holes form from the remnants of a large star that dies in a supernova explosion. Bigger black holes can result from stellar collisions.

Are black holes really black?

Yes, black holes are really black as no light can escape from them. They are defined by the shell of a black, featureless sphere called an event horizon.

How big are black holes?

Even the smallest type of black hole, stellar black holes, are really big, measuring about 40 miles across. The biggest are supermassive black holes, and according to some estimates they may have a diameter of about 78 billion miles. 

How many black holes are there?

There are so, so many. Most stellar black holes are impossible to detect but judging from the number of stars large enough to produce such black holes, scientists estimate that there are as many as ten million to a billion in the Milky Way alone. As for supermassive black holes, astronomers believe they lie at the centre of virtually all large galaxies.

What would happen if I went into a black hole?

In the song ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ they predict that spaceships would melt in a black hole, and that they would set your soul alive. That is actually a pretty dull interpretation of what would happen. Apparently (and I say apparently because people do not go into black holes), reality would split in two. In one, you would be instantly incinerated (this would be from the perspective of an observer), and in the other you would plunge on into the black hole utterly unharmed (this would be from your perspective). I can’t do this explanation of a dual reality justice in a paragraph, but I would highly recommend a read of this BBC article: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150525-a-black-hole-would-clone-you

Can I see a black hole?

On 10 April 2019 astronomers revealed a picture of the massive black hole at the heart of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87). This image is easily Google-able, but it took a team of over 200 scientists many years to produce the image, using a combination of signals from eight observatories across the world. It should also be noted that you can't directly observe black holes with telescopes that detect x-rays, light, or other forms of electromagnetic radiation. So no, you personally, on your own, will never see a black hole.

What number did Supermassive Black Hole by Muse reach in the charts?

Sadly, it never made it to number 1. But it did do pretty well, reaching number 4 in the Official Singles Chart in June 2006.

Comments

  1. BridgetOctober 26, 2020 at 2:09 PM

    Nice. Stuff I didn't know and also a song I didn't know. Liked the music not the words 🙃

    ReplyDelete
  2. JeanieOctober 27, 2020 at 8:05 AM

    Read that linked article. whaaaaat? Mind boggled.

    ReplyDelete

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