Everyday we look out upon the night sky, wondering and
dreaming of what lies beyond our planet. The universe that we live in is so
diverse and unique, and it interests us to learn about all the variance that
lies beyond our grasp. Within this marvel of wonders our universe holds a
mystery that is very difficult to understand because of the complications that
arise when trying to examine and explore the principles of space. That mystery
happens to be that of the ever clandestine, black hole.
This essay will
hopefully give you the knowledge and understanding of the concepts, properties,
and processes involved with the space phenomenon of the black hole. It will
describe how a black hole is generally formed, how it functions, and the effects
it has on the universe.
In order to understand what exactly a black hole
is, we must first take a look at the basis for the cause of a black hole. All
black holes are formed from the gravitational collapse of a star, usually having
a great, massive, core. A star is created when huge, gigantic, gas clouds bind
together due to attractive forces and form a hot core, combined from all the
energy of the two gas clouds. This energy produced is so great when it first
collides, that a nuclear reaction occurs and the gases within the star start to
burn continuously. The Hydrogen gas is usually the first type of gas consumed in
a star and then other gas elements such as Carbon, Oxygen, and Helium are
consumed.
This chain reaction fuels the star for millions or billions of
years depending upon the amount of gases there are.
The star manages to
avoid collapsing at this point because of the equilibrium achieved by itself.
The gravitational pull from the core of the star is equal to the gravitational
pull of the gases forming a type of orbit, however when this equality is broken
the star can go into several different stages.
Usually if the star is
small in mass, most of the gases will be consumed while some of it escapes. This
occurs because there is not a tremendous gravitational pull upon those gases and
therefore the star weakens and becomes smaller. It is then referred to as a
White Dwarf. If the star was to have a larger mass however, then it may possibly
Supernova, meaning that the nuclear fusion within the star simply goes out of
control causing the star to explode. After exploding a fraction of the star is
usually left (if it has not turned into pure gas) and that fraction of the star
is known as a neutron star.
A black hole is one of the last option that
a star may take. If the core of the star is so massive (approximately 6-8 solar
masses; one solar mass being equal to the sun\'s mass) then it is most likely
that when the star\'s gases are almost consumed those gases will collapse
inward, forced into the core by the gravitational force laid upon them.
After a black hole is created, the gravitational force continues to pull
in space debris and other type of matters to help add to the mass of the core,
making the hole stronger and more powerful.
Most black holes tend to be
in a consistent spinning motion. This motion absorbs various matter and spins it
within the ring (known as the Event Horizon) that is formed around the black
hole. The matter keeps within the Event Horizon until it has spun into the
centre where it is concentrated within the core adding to the mass. Such
spinning black holes are known as Kerr Black Holes.
Most black holes
orbit around stars due to the fact that they once were a star, and this may
cause some problems for the neighboring stars. If a black hole gets powerful
enough it may actually pull a star into it and disrupt the orbit of many other
stars. The black hole could then grow even stronger (from the star\'s mass) as
to possibly absorb another.
When a black hole absorbs a star, the star
is first pulled into the Ergosphere, which sweeps all the matter into the Event
Horizon, named for it\'s flat horizontal appearance and because this happens to
be the place where mostly all the action within the black hole occurs. When the
star is passed on into the Event Horizon the light that the star endures is bent
within the current and therefore cannot be seen in space. At this exact point in
time, high amounts of radiation are given off, that with the proper equipment
can be detected and seen as an image of a black hole. Through this technique
astronomers now believe that they have found a black hole known as Cygnus X1.
This supposed black hole has a huge star orbiting around it, therefore we assume
there must be a black hole that it is in orbit with.
The first
scientists to really take an in depth look at black holes and the collapsing of
stars, were a professor, Robert Oppenheimer and his student Hartland Snyder, in
the early nineteen hundreds. They concluded on the basis of Einstein\'s theory
of relativity that if the speed of light was the utmost speed over any massive
object, then nothing could escape a black hole once in it\'s clutches.
The name \"black hole\" was named such, because of the fact that light
could not escape from the gravitational pull from the core, thus making the
black hole impossible for humans to see without using technological advancements
for measuring such things like radiation. The second part of the word was named
\"hole\" due to the fact that the actual hole, is where everything is absorbed
and where the centre core presides. This core is the main part of the black hole
where the mass is concentrated and appears purely black on all readings even
through the use of radiation detection devices.
Just recently a major
discovery was found with the help of a device known as The Hubble Telescope.
This telescope has just recently found what many astronomers believe to be a
black hole, after being focused on an star orbiting empty space. Several picture
were sent back to Earth from the telescope showing many computer enhanced
pictures of various radiation fluctuations and other diverse types of readings
that could be read from the area in which the black hole is suspected to be in.
Several diagrams were made showing how astronomers believe that if
somehow you were to survive through the centre of the black hole that there
would be enough gravitational force to possible warp you to another end in the
universe or possibly to another universe. The creative ideas that can be
hypothesized from this discovery are endless.
Although our universe is
filled with much unexplained, glorious, phenomenon, it is our duty to continue
exploring them and to continue learning, but in the process we must not take any
of it for granted.
As you have read, black holes are a major topic
within our universe and they contain so much curiosity that they could possibly
hold unlimited uses. Black holes are a sensation that astronomers are still very
puzzled with. It seems that as we get closer to solving their existence and
functions, we just end up with more and more questions.
Although these
questions just lead us into more and more unanswered problems we seek and find
refuge into them, dreaming that maybe one day, one far off distant day, we will
understand all the conceptions and we will be able to use the universe to our
advantage and go where only our dreams could take us.