An Infinite Tunnel

Written 5/23/21

What is a black hole?

Well essentially, a black hole is a place in space where the gravitational pull is so strong that it can trap light. Black holes are space time objects .However because we can’t see them, and because they don’t really move, they are sometimes referred to as ‘places’.

These space time bending objects are formed from the remnants of a dead massive star. When massive stars die, they explode into a vibrant and bright, almost grenade-like, explosion. This explosion is called a supernova, and this basically blows the star to pieces. Depending on how big or dense the star was, will depend on whether it becomes a black hole or not. Slightly smaller stars that supernova may even form a sort of ghost star called a neutron star.

Neutron stars are very dense, but black holes are way denser. A neutron star may seem small, seeing as the average size of a neutron star is around 20 kilometers or so. Though the reason they are small is because there is the mass equivalent to a star sitting inside of a neutron star. A star that used to be around 100 million miles+ compressed into a white star the size of a small town.

Also meaning that this seemingly harmless white star is far denser than what you could’ve imagined.

Anyway… Back to black holes.

An active black hole may have numerous cool ‘additions’. These so-called additions are like parts of a machine. Such parts include: The relativistic jet, the singularity, and more.

First let’s talk about the singularity and work our way up. The singularity is theorized to be the center of a black hole. The singularity is a one-dimensional point in which a large amount of mass is stored in an infinitely smaller space. In the singularity, the laws of physics basically fall apart. As in the singularity, both density and gravity become infinite and the space time plane curves infinitely. A strange place to say the least.

Next, let’s explain the event horizon.

The event horizon can almost be thought of as the Earth’s atmosphere, but for a black hole. The event horizon is a point in no return. Theoretically if you were to get sucked into a black hole and cross the event horizon, you are as good as dead. The event horizon is just a sort of cover surrounding the singularity, in which matter and energy is no longer able to escape the black hole’s pull. This cover is the reason a black hole is, well, black!

Really there isn’t anything else to the event horizon. There may still be much information hidden that wasn’t covered about the event horizon, but that’s another topic for another time.

Relativistic jets are really a sight to behold, huh?

Never in the history of mankind has there been one captured on film or seen in person. Anyway… Relativistic jets shoot out into outer space, like lasers, when black holes feed on stars, gasses, or just clouds of dust. These jets are believed to be the fastest traveling particles in the universe, besides light. These particles are accelerated, nearly to the speed of light.

Nothing more, nothing less. These rays are just particles, spewed down two narrow tunnels; accelerated nearly to the speed of light.

In conclusion, black holes are only one of the many wonders that lie, undiscovered, in our universe. We can only hope to find more of those wonders to tell the world.