What is the black hole?

A black hole is a region in spacetime with gravity so powerful that nothing, not even light, can escape. This intense gravity is caused by matter being squeezed into an incredibly tiny space, which can happen when a massive star dies and collapses. Black holes are invisible, but astronomers can detect them by observing how their gravity affects nearby stars and matter.

How they form?

Stellar black holes: When a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel, its core collapses under its own gravity, causing a massive explosion called a supernova. The core that remains can collapse into a stellar-mass black hole, which can be a few times the mass of our sun.

Supermassive black holes: These are millions to billions of times the mass of the sun and are found at the centers of most large galaxies, including our own Milky Way. How they form is still a mystery that scientists are actively researching.

Key features

Event horizon: This is the “surface” of a black hole, a boundary where the escape velocity exceeds the speed of light. Anything that crosses the event horizon cannot get back out.

Invisibility: Since no light can escape, black holes are invisible. Astronomers find them by observing the effects of their gravity on surrounding objects.