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Black Holes Essay

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Black Holes The term black hole was first used in 1969 by the American scientist John Wheeler to describe an object that had such a huge gravitational pull that not even light could escape it, thereby rendering it invisible or black. John Michell extended upon this idea in a paper called the "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London" in which he pointed out that a star that was sufficiently massive and compact would have such a strong gravitational pull that not even …show more content…

If the star is of a small to average size it will shrink down dramatically until it becomes a white dwarf - when the sun eventually becomes a white dwarf it will be about the size of the earth! A white dwarf has an extraordinary density - about one teaspoon taken from a white dwarf could weigh as much as a mountain!

The second possibility occurs if the star is very large. The star will throw out its outer layers in a terrific explosion, this is called a supernova. The star will then begin to contract under the force of gravity. But unlike the first possibility, this star will not be able to halt its collapse. The star will become smaller and smaller until it gets to the point where it has become infinitely dense and infinitely small - the singularity of a black hole.

A black hole consists of two main parts, a singularity and an event horizon. The event horizon is like the "skin" of a black hole, once you pass the event horizon there is no escape. The horizon is often referred to as the clothes of the black hole, as it is a barrier that separates the singularity from the rest of the universe. The event horizon can be seen by rays of light that are caught in a perpetual orbit around the black hole - unable to escape yet unable to fall in.

The singularity is what is found at the very center of a black hole; the singularity is a place of infinite density, infinite

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