It’s impossible to be certain from outside of the event horizon whether there’s a black hole or not until you fall in there. In the second one, there was no black hole. This means, in one reality you fell into a black hole. He theorized that there are alternate universes with different histories. Stephen Hawking, however, found a way, in which the information about your body wouldn’t be lost. But don’t pack your suitcase just yet – crossing the event horizon is just the beginning of the challenge.Įven when the black hole eventually died, emitting all the particles it had absorbed (including your body), it would be impossible to tell whether those particles were you. Luckily, it’s 165 quadrillion miles (or 265 quadrillion km) away from us and will suck neither the Sun nor the planets. There’s one right at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. 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.Īnd if you’re wondering where to find one – you don’t have to look too far. 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. If you found yourself outside of that point, you’d see that stars are twisted around a perfect circle of darkness.Īs you start being pulled toward a black hole, you’d be moving faster and faster, accelerated by the force of gravity. So if you were to fall into one, would you find yourself in an alternate dimension? Every 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 the gravity be like there?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. That’s something that is not going to happen any time soon, and likely never will.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. The only way Earth could be swallowed by a black hole would be if our planet happened to stray across a wandering black hole’s event horizon. If our Sun were replaced by a black hole, however, it would get very dark and cold in our Solar System. Credit: Mark Garlick / Science Photo Library Replacing the Sun with a black hole of the same mass would not alter the orbits of the planets of the Solar System. If we were to replace the Sun with a black hole of the same mass, for example, Earth and the rest of the planets would continue orbiting in exactly the same way, because there would be no discernible change in the gravity acting on them. This is because, at a distance, their gravitational pull is no more compelling than a star of the same mass. It is incredibly unlikely that Earth would ever fall into a black hole. Credit: EHT Collaborationĭespite their abundance, there is no reason to panic: black holes will not devour Earth nor the Universe. The first ever image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy. Read our answers to some of the big questions about black holes. In May 2022, astronomers revealed the first ever photograph of the black hole at the centre of our Galaxy. Possessing the terrifying power to devour anything unlucky enough to pass within their grasp, it is little surprise that these cosmic chasms have become a staple of sci-fi since the term ‘ black hole’ was coined in 1964. Time comes to a stop at its edge, and its centre may hide a point of infinitely small volume and infinite density, where all laws of physics break down. Could Earth be swallowed by a black hole?Ī black hole is a region of space where matter has become so densely packed that its gravity will let nothing escape – including light.
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