Blackhole

In News

• A mysterious and intensely bright flash of light coming from halfway across the universe earlier this year had stunned astronomers worldwide.

Key Findings

• The source of the intense beam has now been identified — a supermassive black hole ripping apart a star, pointing directly at Earth. 
• The jet of light was brighter than 1,000 trillion suns. 
• Scientists from multiple institutions, including India, helped trace the activity powered by the black hole, 8.5 billion light years away from Earth. 

About Black Holes

• A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot escape. 
• The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.
• How Do Black Holes Form:
  • Scientists think the smallest black holes formed when the universe began.
  • Stellar black holes are made when the center of a very big star falls in upon itself or collapses. When this happens, it causes a supernova. A supernova is an exploding star that blasts part of the star into space.
  • Scientists think supermassive black holes were made at the same time as the galaxy they are in.
• Visibility: 
  • Because no light can get out, they are invisible. 
  • Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes. 
  • The gases swirling around actually help in getting their images.
• Size:
  • Black holes can be big or small. 
  • Scientists think the smallest black holes are as small as just one atom. These black holes are very tiny but have the mass of a large mountain. 
  • Another kind of black hole is called “stellar.” Its mass can be up to 20 times more than the mass of the sun. 
  • The largest black holes are called ‘supermassive’ and they have masses that are more than 1 million suns together. 
• SgrA*:
  • The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is called Sagittarius A.
  • It has a mass equal to about 4 million suns and would fit inside a very large ball that could hold a few million Earths.

Image Courtesy: USA Today 

Source: DTE