Black Holes:The Origins of the Universe

Their gravity is so poignant that not even light can escape it's pull. Any matter that is sucked into a black hole disappears completely from the farseeable universe. This is precisely waht hinders astronomers from seeing a black hole. Since objects cannot get too close to a black hole, it is extremely difficult for astronokmers to see one. As a matter of fact, the only reason we acknowledge their existence is because of the effects they have on objects that surround them.

Any matter regardless of mass, density, velosity, volume or intensity that gets too close to a black hole will be pulled inside it by it's incredibly powerful gravitational pull. As matter get's close to the black hole, they heat up to astounding degrees and get incredibly hot. Scientists and astronomers can now use special instruments to detect the heat given off by the object. This is one of the methods we use to detect wether or not a black hole exists at a particular region in space.

Since scientists current research into black holes, they have theorized that black holes indeed make the center of galaxies. They also believe that black holes are responsible for the release of brilliant amounts of energy that fuels the magnificent reactions that occurs within the galaxies. Scientists also believe that the energy of the black hole may possibly be fueled by trapped gas, stars, dust, and other interstellar matter or antimatter that are pulled into it's center.

In an event similar to hat of a whirlpool, gas is sucked into the black hole and swirls down into the hole much like a whirlpool. With the current usages of spectroscopes, the Hubble Space Telescope is equipped with capabilities that enable it to calculate the speed of gas and other interstellar objects as it gets sucked around and finally into the hole. The velocity of the gas as it swirls is known by scientists and astronomers as the black holes signature.

This can also be done using doppler shifts. By calculating the velocity of the gas, the mass of the black hole can be derived. A black hole occupies the center of the m87 galaxy in the constellation of virgo. This constellation is approximately 50 million light-years away. The black hole's mass has been calculated to be approximately equal to 3 billion times the mass of the sun. Another efficient way to study black holes was furnished by x-ray observations.

X-rays have an unusal capability of being able to penetrate gas and dust a lot better that optical light. With the data and observations recieved from x-rays and the Hubble Space Telescope, both astronomers and physicists both believe that the presence of black holes reveals much of the cosmological occurences that take place in our much-unexplored Universe.

Another aspect of a black hole is something called an event horizon. An event horizon of a black hole is the boundary beyond which even light cannot escape. This boundary is the "point of no return". From theories by ingenious physicists such as albert einstein, we have discovered that peculiar events take place near the event horizon and beyond.

If you were to ask albert einstein to explain black holes to you, he would probably answer saying something like this:"According to the theory of quantum mechanics, when light travels, it fleetingly splits into-an electron(or particle) and positron(or anti-particle)-and then recombines. Since the two cancel each other out, there is no net gain to the universe while they do this- except, of course, if they are near a black hole and one of the particle is sucked in. The effect of this would be apparent creation of particles around the event horizon. This would mean a net gain to the universe, so the energy that makes up these particles must be coming from somewhere- the black hole. Gradually, then, the singularity, must be losing energy,( by the way, a singularity is a massively heavy, infinitely dense dimensionless object-no pun intended) object and therefore mass, and the event horizon must be contracting a small black hole with singularity the mass of the Sun would, however, take 1056 times the present age of the universe to shrink to nothing."

Say what!!!!!!! If you understood that you probably don't need to research black holes using my webpage. Now for everyone else thats normal, like myself, let me put that in english. The best way to illustrate what einstein was saying from what my opinion is to give you an example, or an analogy. Basically, einstein was saying this: If you were just outside a black hole and saw your buddy astronaut fall in, you would never see him reach the event horizon. As he got close to the black hole, time would slow down, and he would appear to be moving slower and slower. This slowing of time will have a peculiar effect on the wavelength of the light coming from him, and the astronaut would look redder and redder until he faded away. Cool huh!! For the astronaut, time in the universe around him would seem to speed up.