Black holes are famous for being the hungriest objects in the universe. We hear stories about them pulling in everything, even light itself. They are the ultimate traps of gravity. Because they are so powerful, it’s easy to picture them as giant monsters, like cosmic vacuum cleaners, swallowing anything that gets too close. At the … Read more
This question sounds like the start of a horror movie, but it is actually one of the most interesting thought experiments in all of space science. When we talk about the Sun becoming a black hole, we must first be clear: The Sun is far too small to ever become a black hole in reality. … Read more
Black holes are some of the most fascinating and mysterious objects in the entire universe. We hear about them in movies and read about them in books, where they are often used as gateways to other worlds or even other times. They are real, and they are incredibly powerful. A black hole is a place … Read more
In the vast, dark expanse of space, there are objects so powerful that they challenge our understanding of reality. We call them black holes. A black hole is a place in space where gravity is so incredibly strong that nothing, not even light, can escape once it gets too close. For a long time, we … Read more
Black holes are famous for being invisible. They are objects in space with gravity so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape once it gets too close. This creates a big problem for astronomers. If no light can escape, how can we possibly take a picture of one? It seems impossible, like trying to … Read more
Our Milky Way galaxy is a huge, beautiful place, full of stars, planets, and gas. Right at its very center, hidden from our eyes by thick clouds of dust and gas, lies something truly powerful: a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* (pronounced “Sagittarius A-star”). This isn’t just any black hole; it’s the biggest one … Read more
We often think of black holes as the ultimate monsters of the universe. They are regions in space where gravity is so incredibly strong that they pull everything in. Once something crosses the “event horizon,” which is the black hole’s point of no return, it can never get out. Not even light, the fastest thing … Read more
Supermassive black holes are the most powerful objects in the universe. They are gravity monsters, millions or even billions of times heavier than our Sun. Almost every large galaxy, including our own Milky Way, has one of these giants hiding at its very center, holding the galaxy together. Because their gravity is so strong, nothing—not … Read more
Black holes are some of the most mysterious and powerful objects in the entire universe. They are not science fiction; they are real, and our galaxy is full of them. We often see them in movies as glowing portals or cosmic vacuum cleaners that suck up everything nearby. The truth is a bit different, but … Read more
The terms micro black hole and primordial black hole (PBH) are often used in similar contexts, but it is helpful to know the difference. A primordial black hole is defined by when it formed: in the first second of the universe’s existence, before stars and galaxies even existed. These PBHs could have a huge range … Read more