NASA explains what a black hole is

If your head lives in the sky and you like “space” subjects like astronauts, missions, ships, probes, satellites, asteroids, stars, moons, planets and everything else out there, you probably have read something about mysterious black holes, isn't it true?

Nowadays, thousands of scientists around the globe have spoken about it, but the news is constantly emerging, confusing the minds of many people who do not have a clear and objective answer about these invisible giants that are stationed in various places along the galaxies.

With that, the Mega Curious team decided to separate and organize what NASA has to say on its official website about the unusual black holes that have so intrigued experts - especially from the 1970s onwards. Come on!

What is it and how is it formed?

These are certain regions in space where gravity pulls so absurdly that not even light escapes these "space monsters" - so you can't see any of them because they are invisible.

Black hole formation occurs when a large star dies and is simply imploded, causing its density to become infinite with mass accumulation at a single point.

How big are they?

They can be big, small and also giant. According to the experts of the all-powerful (and mysterious) NASA, the smallest of them can be the size of an atom, extremely tiny but with devastating force. So-called stellar can be up to 20 times the mass of the sun.

Finally come the famous "supermassives", which have the mass of the sun, only multiplied by one million - at least. Scientists say that virtually every galaxy in the universe houses a supermassive black hole at its center. To give you an idea, our Milky Way is home to such a "monster" called Sagittarius A, whose mass equals four million suns in our system.

How many black holes are there?

Considering the average lifespan of stars in general and how old our galaxy is at a very old age, NASA says that by accounting for all of them (no matter what type), there are already over 10 million stellar black holes in existence.

If they are invisible, how do we know they exist?

It is obvious that astronomers rely on mind-boggling equipment - such as telescopes and the like - to come to any plausible conclusion about the location of a black hole. But it's not just looking at the millionaire apparatus and making the necessary notes, no: the level of attention is much higher than that.

Scientists can see how gravity affects the stars and gases around where such a "space monster" is supposed to exist. Thus, institutions such as NASA, ESA - among others less well known - study stars very hard to find out if such holes are flying loose in the universe or in definite orbit of something in space.

Moreover, there is the theory of gases, because as it passes near a black hole, a particular cloud of gas is sucked in a spiral shape, resulting in a transformation of energies - gravitational potential and kinetic.

By spiraling into the hole, kinetic energy is transformed into thermal energy due to the heat (up to one billion degrees centigrade) that results from friction. Thus, part of this gas ends up emitting X-ray when escaping the hole.

Can the earth be swallowed by a black hole?

According to NASA, no. They say these invisible giants don't go around swallowing stars, moons and planets. In addition, the Earth's solar system is a good distance from such a hole - about 24, 000 light years. Therefore, you can rest assured that the Blue Planet will not end tragically, being swallowed in the universe.

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And do you, the reader, know other theories and information about black holes? Be sure to share your information with us in the comments below.