Black hole

-a region of space having a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation can
escape.
-Stellar black holes are made when the center of a very big star falls in upon itself, or
collapses. When this happens, it causes a supernova. A supernova is an exploding star that blasts
part of the star into space. Scientists think supermassive black holes were made at the same time
as the galaxy they are in.
-Cosmic body of extremely intense gravity from which nothing, not even light, can
escape. A black hole can be formed by the death of a massive star. When such a star has
exhausted the internal thermonuclear fuels in its core at the end of its life, the core becomes
unstable and gravitationally collapses inward upon itself, and the star’s outer layers are blown
away. The crushing weight of constituent matter falling in from all sides compresses the dying
star to a point of zero volume and infinite density called the singularity.
The existence of another kind of nonstellar black hole has been proposed by the British
astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. According to Hawking’s theory, numerous
tiny primordial black holes, possibly with a mass equal to that of an asteroid or less, might have
been created during the big bang, a state of extremely high temperatures and density in which
the universe is thought to have originated 13.8 billion years ago. These so-called mini black
holes, like the more massive variety, lose mass over time through Hawking radiation and
disappear. If certain theories of the universe that require extra dimensions are correct, the Large
Hadron Collider could produce significant numbers of mini black holes.

Black holes are completely characterised by only three parameters: mass, rotation and charge.
There are now thought to be 4 main types of black holes if classified by mass:
1. Primordial Black Holes have masses comparable to or less than that of the Earth. These
purely hypothetical objects could have been formed through the gravitational collapse of
regions of high density at the time of the Big Bang.
2. Stellar Mass Black Holes have masses between about 4 and 15 solar masses and result
from the core-collapse of a massive star at the end of its life.
3. Intermediate Mass Black Holes of perhaps a few thousand solar masses may also exist.
Sketchy evidence suggests that they may be found in some clusters of stars, and may
eventually grow into supermassive black holes.
4. Supermassive Black Holes weigh between 106 and 109 solar masses and are found at
the centres of most large galaxies.

Alternatively, black holes can be classified by their two other properties of rotation and charge:
1. Schwarzschild Black Hole, otherwise known as a ‘static black hole’, does not rotate and
has no electric charge. It is characterised solely by its mass.
2. Kerr Black Hole is a more realistic scenario. This is a rotating black hole with no
electrical charge.
3. Charged Black Hole can be of two types. A charged, non-rotating black hole is known as
a Reissner-Nordstrom black hole, a charged, rotating black hole is called a Kerr-Newman
black hole.

Under the classical theory of general relativity, once a black hole is created, it will last
forever since nothing can escape it. However, if quantum mechanics is also considered, it turns
out that all black holes will eventually evaporate as they slowly leak Hawking radiation. This
means that the lifetime of a black hole is dependent on its mass, with smaller black holes
evaporating faster than larger ones. For example, a black hole of 1 solar mass takes 1067 years to
evaporate (much longer than the current age of the Universe), while a black hole of only 1011 kg
will evaporate within 3 billion years.
Black holes are detected by observing high-energy phenomena and the motions of nearby
objects. This plot of the orbital motion of the star S2 around the centre of the Milky
Way provides strong evidence for the existence of a supermassive black hole (~3 million solar
masses) at the centre of our galaxy.
Credit: ESO
Observational evidence for black holes is, of course, not straightforward to obtain. Since
radiation cannot escape the extreme gravitational pull of a black hole, we cannot detect them
directly. Instead we infer their existence by observing high-energy phenomena such as X-ray
emission and jets, and the motions of nearby objects in orbit around the hidden mass. An added
complication is that similar phenomena are observed around less massive neutron
stars and pulsars. Therefore, identification as a black hole requires astronomers to make an
estimate of the mass of the object and its size. A black hole is confirmed if no other object or
group of objects could be so massive and compact.

What is a black hole made of?

The simple answer is that we don’t know. A black hole is defined as a region of
spacetime from which extremely strong gravity prevents anything, including light, from escaping.
We know that matter falling into black holes is no different from the matter which can be found
lurking around the rest of the Universe. However, the closer we get to the centre of a black hole,
the faster our understanding of physics breaks down. Thanks to General Relativity, we think we
understand what happens in this extreme gravity and with the help of Quantum Mechanics, we
can make an intelligent estimate as to what happens at smaller, microscopic scales. But if the two
theories are combined – like they would be at the centre of a black hole – they break down,
leaving us with no idea as to what’s going on!
To get around the problem, astrophysicists need a theory of gravity that is compatible with
Quantum Mechanics that might just describe the physics inside a black hole. At the moment
though, no such model exists but physicists are working on it.