#MagDigit
01
Who doesn’t want to be surprised by these cosmic bodies that don’t even let light escape? The ranks of scientists from Albert Einstein to Stephen Hawking have studied black holes, but they remain completely unknown. Scientists continue to study black holes. Many wondered if astronauts could enter a black hole. It looks like we can do it now, maybe?
02
Black holes are regions in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. They form from the remnants of massive stars after they collapse under their own gravity, creating a singularity surrounded by an event horizon.
03
Leo and Shanshan Rodriquez, assistant professors of physics at Grinnell College, compared two types of black holes: stellar size and supermassive black holes. A stellar-sized black hole is approximately the size of the Sun, but a supermassive black hole weighs 4 million Suns. Both of these black holes have an event horizon
04
Event horizon. It’s a border, a point with no return. When someone crosses the event horizon, the massive attraction of the black hole takes over. The event horizon is only a few kilometres long and close to the centre of the black hole, so trying to enter a stellar-sized black hole is not a good idea.
A trip to a black hole, though captivating, poses extreme challenges. Stellar-sized black holes are fatal due to intense spaghettification, while supermassive ones offer a less lethal but still daunting journey.