
There’s one right at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Scientists aren’t totally sure how supermassive black holes are formed, but they are sure that they do.Īnd if you’re wondering where to find one – you don’t have to look too far. In this case, your body would remain unharmed as you cross the event horizon, as the gravity would be pulling both your feet and your head with almost the same strength. The one that is a million times heavier than our Sun.

So make sure to choose a supermassive one. If you happened to be pulled towards a stellar black hole, you’d be completely torn apart before you even reach the event horizon.

They can stretch to about 9 miles (15 km) across and be as heavy as 20 suns. The most common black holes are called “stellar”. If your fell feet-first, your legs would be feeling a stronger gravitational pull than your head. The gravitational force of a black hole is very, very strong. That’s the first bad news for you, brave space traveler. As you start being pulled toward a black hole, you’d be moving faster and faster, accelerated by the force of gravity. If you found yourself outside of that point, you’d see that stars are twisted around a perfect circle of darkness. So if you were to fall into one, would you find yourself in an alternate dimension?Įvery black hole has an event horizon – the point at which the gravitational pull becomes so strong that you can’t escape from it. Stephen Hawking himself believed that black holes can be passages to another universe. These bursts, discovered by Stephen Hawking, now carry his name – Hawking radiation. But you can detect it from the gamma-ray bursts that the hole emits. What would that feel like?Ī black hole’s gravity is so strong, that even light can’t get out. Now imagine squeezing four suns in something that is just 15 miles (24 km) in diameter – the distance you can cover in 30-minute drive. If you were to walk on the Sun, you’d be 28 times heavier than you are on Earth. Think of the Sun with its gravitational field 28 times stronger than Earth’s. While black holes can be massive, they don’t take up very much space. But don’t let its name fool you, a black hole isn’t a hole at all, but rather a huge amount of matter packed into a very small space. If the core’s mass is at least three times bigger than the mass of our Sun, gravity overwhelms all other forces and turns the core into a black hole.

Black holes come in small, medium, and large sizes – just like a cute dress from your favourite department store. They also generate energy in a more efficient way than the Sun.Īccording to researchers, the Milky Way galaxy alone has several hundred million black holes, created from the remains of stars. They do pull the space around them, because of the well they create with their deep gravitational pull. Black holes are not cosmic vacuums that suck people in, although they do have a strong gravitational pull. When a massive star dies, it leaves a smaller, remnant core behind. The first black hole was discovered in 1971. The term ‘black hole’ was invented by John Wheeler, an American astronomer, in 1967. In his theory of relativity, Einstein predicted how black holes are formed, in 1916. Facts About Black Holes:ĭespite being “black” and a “hole”, a black hole is not a dark, empty space. Would you have any chance of survival? How would you get out? Would you find a shortcut to another universe? Here’s what would happen if you fell into a black hole. How much do you know about black holes? What would happen if you fell into one? Say one day you were exploring space looking for a new planet for humans to inhabit, but came across a black hole and decided – why not check it out? Say one day you were exploring space looking for a new planet for humans to inhabit, but came across a black hole and decided – why not check it out? Would you have any chance of survival? How would you get out if at all? Would you find a shortcut to another universe? Watch the video to learn about what would happen if you fell into a black hole.
