Black holes are something everyone has heard about, but few actually know anything about. They are like giant invisible blenders lurking in the corners of deep space, sucking in unsuspecting stars and planets and ripping them to shreds. We're only beginning to understand the secrets of deep space and the full capacity of these cosmic death traps.
Black holes are one of the
most interesting things about space. Like their event horizon, which is the
point of no return situated at their swirling center, black holes are
invisible. Nothing can escape their pull - not even light itself. But just
because they’re surrounded by mystery doesn’t mean they’re always shrouded in
darkness. Some black holes are so luminous they outshine Earth’s sun by the
billions.
What is a black hole? Is it
a secret doorway into alternate realities? Is it Mother Nature’s time machine?
Does it destroy, create, or all of the above? Here are some crazy facts about
black holes that will help you put these questions and more into perspective.
Every Black Hole Contains A
Universe
If life were a run through
Wonderland, the rabbit hole might just be a black hole, and here’s how deep it
gets.
The theory of quantum
gravity seems to suggest every black hole contains a new universe that
stretches out beyond our own. This could mean that entering a black hole could
be like opening a doorway and stepping into an alternate reality. That is, if
you survived going through a black hole.
Our Universe Might Just
Exist Inside Of A Black Hole
Scientists have long played
with the notion that our universe contains millions of black holes, invisible
death traps spiraling around the atmosphere in space. But in modern times, a
new concept has unearthed an even more mind-boggling possibility - our universe
exists inside of a black hole. This popular theory opens up possibilities for
things previously thought fictional, like time travel and parallel worlds,
because if a black hole is a doorway rather than a deathtrap, we all stand to
enter into a realm where the laws of nature no longer apply.
Black Holes Can Slow Down
Time, Hypothetically Making Time Travel Possible
Because black holes are
masters of distortion and the universe at large, they don’t obey the natural
laws of time. They are surrounded by approximately 15 million miles of darkness
and their mass consequently slows down time in a process known as time dilation.
This process concludes that traveling faster makes time move slower. Could it
be the key to time travel isn’t in an actual vessel but rather through a hole?
Stephen Hawking and several other geniuses seem to think so.
They Are Considered The
Single Most Deadly Force In The Entire Universe
Spaghettification is a made
up word describing what black holes do to anything within a billion mile
radius. When a black hole spaghettifies something (or someone) it stretches
them to death using horizontal compression and extreme tidal force.
Should you, for any given
reason, get sucked in by a black hole, you will not be spit back out. You will
simply vanish without a trace. It will be as if you never existed. This is
because nothing can enter into a black hole and exit unless, of course it exits
out the other side, alive and intact. And even then, theoretically you'd be in
another universe, so you would never be heard from again. Let’s say that were
the case for a person.
Black holes don’t just give
birth to universes, they also swallow them whole. If one were to come into
contact with our planet, all weapons of mass destruction combined would not be
able to compete with the phenomenon that would inevitably follow. In fact,
literally nothing we’ve ever seen is comparable to the deadly force of a black
hole. Upon contact (and by contact we mean coming within about a billion miles
of these things) our solar system would simply spin out of control and we would
all be ripped to shreds. Scientists call this spaghettification.
They Can Turn You Into
Spaghetti (Sort Of)
This agonizing routine could
go on for a very long time, depending mainly on the size of the black hole
itself. But why spaghetti? Because when a mass comes into contact with a black
hole, it compresses everything into noodle-like shapes. Sometimes this is also
called the noodle effect.
They Will Erase You From
Existence
They would still disappear
as the black hole dissolves, shrinking down into an unfathomable, astronomical
smallness.
The Largest Black Hole We've
Discovered Is 12 Billion Times Larger Than Earth's Sun
The 2015 discovery of SDSS
J010013.02+280225.8 (a doomsday name if ever there was one) turned science on
its heels yet again. This cosmic mystery of a black hole is so colossal that
even the most sophisticated mathematicians are baffled by its size especially
when compared to its approximated age. To put things into perspective, this
hole is thought to be just shy of 13 billion years old, and is 12 billion times
larger than the sun. The sun's radius is 432,288 miles, which means this black
hole is...well, it's huge.
The Super Massive Black Hole
Burns 429 Trillion Times Brighter Than Our Sun
Black holes Are Amazing
Talk about shedding some
light on an ancient illuminated space component. This revelation is unique and
interesting because black holes are often associated with darkness, but in fact
some of them are quite luminous. This newly discovered black hole is the brightest
massive quasar we have ever witnessed. Any bulb that bright is bound to pose
ominous threats to all existence - human and other.
A Black Hole Could Fry Earth
At The Speed Of Light
In the event that we (as in
everyone on Earth) inadvertently got sucked into a black hole, we might not
actually notice this at first. The initial effect could, hypothetically, be as
subtle as a change in tides, a shift in the stars and a strange, off kilter
sensation but then we’d be fried up pretty quickly by the radiation at a pace
exceeding the speed of light.
The Smallest Black Hole
We've Found Can Rip Winds Out At 20 Million Miles Per Hour
Don’t be deceived into
believing the power of a black hole lies solely in its size. IGR J17091-3624 is
one of the tiniest black holes spinning through the cosmos, yet its wind power
outnumbers that of larger black holes by a force 10 times the highest observed
velocity. This tiny stellar mass is situated right here in our Milky Way - and
here’s something you don’t hear every day about a black hole. - we know it’s
alive because it has a heartbeat.
The Way They Are Made Is
Absolutely Mind Blowing
Super massive black holes
are thought to have developed during the primitive stages of creation. Some of
them are probably billions of years old. Younger black holes are born when
stars die. In fact, they are created out of pieces of stars when they are alive.
Black holes live and die, like humans, animals and plants, but the legacy they
leave behind is unparalleled. They create and destroy, yet they too are created
and eventually destroyed.
Basically, when a stars
center implodes on itself, it creates a supernova. That supernova is a huge
explosion that blasts into outer space, creating a massive pull so intense that
even light can't get out. Because these things are so huge, they essentially
suck in everything in and squeeze it in really tight - and this is where a
black hole is born.
Black Holes Eat Everything,
Including Each Other
Somewhere amidst the
drifting stars and shifting particles of space, one massive black hole eats
another. This effect is known as merging galaxies and it’s a new revelation to
astrophysicists and the scientific community at large. It’s worth noting the
black hole that got consumed was the largest in the spiral galaxy we were
observing called NGC3393.
Not Only Do They Suck In
Matter But They Also Spit It Out At Accelerated, Fatal Speeds
Just 28,000 light years from
our planet, a black hole labeled H1743-322 is hurling cosmic bullets into space
at lighting speeds. As we know, black holes suck in matter, functioning like
interstellar vacuum cleaners or super space magnets if you will. But some of
the matter they suck in gets spit back out and the end result is a shower of
fragmented planets spiraling aimless through space posing all sorts of threats
of possible collision but capturing our attention throughout the journey.
These Mystifying Wonders Can
Distort Even Space Itself
Not only do black holes slow
down time, they also distort space and everything surrounding them for billions
of light years. They have been described as putting dents in the space time
continuum. They have been suspected of folding and later collapsing universes
whole. The full effect of these abilities is still immeasurable.
Rogue Black Holes Are Like
Rogue Waves, But Scarier And One Of Them Just Broke Way
Rogue black holes are the
most obvious threat to civilization due to their sheer unpredictability. Prior
to their discovery, black holes were presumed stationary. In March 2017, NASA’s
Hubble Telescope observed a rogue black hole leaving galaxy 3c 186 at a speed
of 5 million miles per hour. According to AOL News, at this alarmingly fast
pace, the rogue hole could travel back and forth between Earth and the moon in
under three minutes' time.