The idea of space fascinates me. The fact that Earth is just one minuscule part of a much bigger solar system, which is a small part of the galaxy, blows my mind. The Earth seems so big to all its inhabitants, yet is miniature compared to the sun. And our sun is much smaller than some other stars. The point is; there are so many things in the universe that dwarf anything in our solar system. One of these things is a black hole. The potential power of a black hole is unlike anything else known to man.
A black hole is just a piece of space with gravitational pulls so strong that nothing can escape the force. The gravitational force in the black hole keeps everything inside, including light. Because light can not escape the gravitational force, the black hole is essentially invisible. This amount of gravitational pull is caused from a high amount of matter clustered in a small space. The black hole is caused from a star being unable to produce energy from its core, as explained in this article by Black Hole Encyclopedia.
Black holes come in many sizes. Most black holes are considered to be stellar black holes. There are black holes that are a million times bigger than stellar black holes, and those are referred to super massive black holes. There is not too much data known of super massive black holes, since it is estimated that only a dozen or so exist. The theory is, though, that super massive black holes are located in the center of galaxies. As I mentioned earlier, stellar black holes are formed when stars reach the end of their lives. However, the formation of super massive black holes is less certain.
There are a few theories about how super massive black holes are formed. The two main theories are: the theory that a massive star explodes and the black hole sucks in the surrounding matter and grows over time. The other theory is that a massive cloud of glass explodes and that forms a super massive black hole. Out of these two theories, I tend to believe that the black hole grows over time by sucking in the surrounding matter.
I would like to pose a different idea, though. After researching super massive black holes, I learned that they are often the center of galaxies, even the Milky Way. My theory is that the super massive black holes may be located in the center of galaxies because they are caused by an explosion much like the Big Bang, which some believe started our galaxy. My idea is that the explosion happens, the matter is trapped in a tight area causing the black hole, and the things that escape the initial explosion are what makes up the galaxy (stars, planets, etc.).
I am far from an expert on the topic of black holes, but they still peak my curiosity. The power and size of black holes is unlike anything we can imagine, and this is what interests me so much about them.
Sources: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-a-black-hole-k4.html
http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/S/Supermassive+Black+Hole
http://blog.physicsworld.com/2011/01/13/how-do-supermassive-black-hole/
http://blackholes.stardate.org/resources/faqs/faq.php?p=black-hole-formation
I appreciate your post on this, because up until reading up on this article, I had little to no real perception of black holes and all that encompass them. Not once do I recall learning into depth on black holes in high school, so this article caught my eye. If you want to check out this clip on what goes on in a black hole, I though it was interesting!
I always found black holes extremely interesting. Speaking of the big bang, I think one of the most amazing theories I have heard about the big bang relates to white holes. Where when things get sucked into a black hole, they are ejected out of a white hole into another universe. I just think that would be amazing that the big bang that started this universe is just o the other end of a black hole in another universe, so we’re basically inside of a black hole. Here’s an article explaining white holes a bit better.