Black Holes 2 Essay, Research Paper

Everyday we

look out upon the night sky, wondering and

dreaming of what lies beyond our planet. The

universe that we live in is so diverse and unique,

and it interests us to learn about all the variance

that lies beyond our grasp. Within this marvel of

wonders our universe holds a mystery that is very

difficult to understand because of the

complications that arise when trying to examine

and explore the principles of space. That mystery

happens to be that of the ever clandestine, black

hole. This essay will hopefully give you the

knowledge and understanding of the concepts,

properties, and processes involved with the space

phenomenon of the black hole. It will describe

how a black hole is generally formed, how it

functions, and the effects it has on the universe. In

order to understand what exactly a black hole is,

we must first take a look at the basis for the cause

of a black hole. All black holes are formed from

the gravitational collapse of a star, usually having a

great, massive, core. A star is created when huge,

gigantic, gas clouds bind together due to attractive

forces and form a hot core, combined from all the

energy of the two gas clouds. This energy

produced is so great when it first collides, that a

nuclear reaction occurs and the gases within the

star start to burn continuously. The Hydrogen gas

is usually the first type of gas consumed in a star

and then other gas elements such as Carbon,

Oxygen, and Helium are consumed. This chain

reaction fuels the star for millions or billions of

years depending upon the amount of gases there

are. The star manages to avoid collapsing at this

point because of the equilibrium achieved by itself.

The gravitational pull from the core of the star is

equal to the gravitational pull of the gases forming

a type of orbit, however when this equality is

broken the star can go into several different

stages. Usually if the star is small in mass, most of

the gases will be consumed while some of it

escapes. This occurs because there is not a

tremendous gravitational pull upon those gases and

therefore the star weakens and becomes smaller.

It is then referred to as a White Dwarf. If the star

was to have a larger mass however, then it may

possibly Supernova, meaning that the nuclear

fusion within the star simply goes out of control

causing the star to explode. After exploding a

fraction of the star is usually left (if it has not turned

into pure gas) and that fraction of the star is

known as a neutron star. A black hole is one of

the last option that a star may take. If the core of

the star is so massive (approximately 6-8 solar

masses; one solar mass being equal to the sun’s

mass) then it is most likely that when the star’s

gases are almost consumed those gases will

collapse inward, forced into the core by the

gravitational force laid upon them. After a black

hole is created, the gravitational force continues to

pull in space debris and other type of matters to

help add to the mass of the core, making the hole

stronger and more powerful. Most black holes

tend to be in a consistent spinning motion. This

motion absorbs various matter and spins it within

the ring (known as the Event Horizon) that is

formed around the black hole. The matter keeps

within the Event Horizon until it has spun into the

centre where it is concentrated within the core

adding to the mass. Such spinning black holes are

known as Kerr Black Holes. Most black holes

orbit around stars due to the fact that they once

were a star, and this may cause some problems

for the neighbouring stars. If a black hole gets

powerful enough it may actually pull a star into it

and disrupt the orbit of many other stars. The

black hole could then grow even stronger (from

the star’s mass) as to possibly absorb another.

When a black hole absorbs a star, the star is first

pulled into the Ergosphere, which sweeps all the

matter into the Event Horizon, named for it’s flat

horizontal appearance and because this happens

to be the place where mostly all the action within

the black hole occurs. When the star is passed on

into the Event Horizon the light that the star

endures is bent within the current and therefore

cannot be seen in space. At this exact point in

time, high amounts of radiation are given off, that

with the proper equipment can be detected and

seen as an image of a black hole. Through this

technique astronomers now believe that they have

found a black hole known as Cygnus X1. This

supposed black hole has a huge star orbiting

around it, therefore we assume there must be a

black hole that it is in orbit with. The first scientists

to really take an in depth look at black holes and

the collapsing of stars, were a professor, Robert

Oppenheimer and his student Hartland Snyder, in

the early nineteen hundreds. They concluded on

the basis of Einstein’s theory of relativity that if the

speed of light was the utmost speed over any

massive object, then nothing could escape a black

hole once in it’s clutches. **(1) The name "black

hole" was named such, because of the fact that

light could not escape from the gravitational pull

from the core, thus making the black hole

impossible for humans to see without using

technological advancements for measuring such

things like radiation. The second part of the word

was named "hole" due to the fact that the actual

hole, is where everything is absorbed and where

the centre core presides. This core is the main part

of the black hole where the mass is concentrated

and appears purely black on all readings even

through the use of radiation detection devices. Just

recently a major discovery was found with the

help of a device known as The Hubble Telescope.

This telescope has just recently found what many

astronomers believe to be a black hole, after being

focused on an star orbiting empty space. Several

picture were sent back to Earth from the telescope

showing many computer enhanced pictures of

various radiation fluctuations and other diverse

types of readings that could be read from the area

in which the black hole is suspected to be in.

Several diagrams were made showing how

astronomers believe that if somehow you were to

survive through the centre of the black hole that

there would be enough gravitational force to

possible warp you to another end in the universe

or possibly to another universe. The creative ideas

that can be hypothesized from this discovery are

endless. Although our universe is filled with much

unexplained, glorious, phenomenons, it is our duty

to continue exploring them and to continue

learning, but in the process we must not take any

of it for granted. As you have read, black holes

are a major topic within our universe and they

contain so much curiosity that they could possibly

hold unlimited uses. Black holes are a sensation

that astronomers are still very puzzled with. It

seems that as we get closer to solving their

existence and functions, we just end up with more

and more questions. Although these questions just

lead us into more and more unanswered problems

we seek and find refuge into them, dreaming that

maybe one day, one far off distant day, we will

understand all the conceptions and we will be able

to use the universe to our advantage and go where

only our dreams could take us. Dave May 343

1992/12/04 References For Into The Depths of a

Black Hole **(1): Parker, Barry. Colliding

Galaxies. PG#96