Black Holes
Astronomers have had a long-term fascination with the phenomenon of the black hole. Until the later part of the twentieth century, however, they provided little more than inspiration for science fiction writers. As humans, we have traditionally been skeptical of anything we cannot tangibly see or hear or manipulate on some level with our senses. Black holes do not satisfy the criteria for our need of proof. They cannot be photographed, or for that matter seen as they absorb all light. Also, little more has been expected to be gained from exploring black holes than an extrapolation of Einstein's Theory of Relativity. In the past five years however, great strides have been made not only in the realm of empirical proof but in applying the knowledge of black holes to pertinent questions for all of humankind. Black holes may indeed explain the origins of all nature (Kluger, 44). Let's look at black holes in terms of the most prevalent theories at our disposal. First, we will define what we have come to understand as a black hole. We will then touch upon how black holes are documented and measured. Thirdly, we will examine the black hole believed to be at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. Finally, we will explore the prevalent hypothesis that black holes are in fact the genesis of all galaxies.
What is a black hole?
Gravity is the cause of black holes. A black hole is the unlimited and irresistible force of ultimate gravity in the universe. To understand how a black hole is created, it is helpful to understand a bit about the basics of gravity. Imagine shooting an arrow into the sky. The harder you shoot the arrow, the farther it will go in attempting to escape the pull of the Earth's gravity. If you were to use a big enough bow with enough force you could help the arrow reach speeds exceeding 7 miles per second which is the escape velocity for the Earth. Escape velocity indicates the minimum speed necessary to beat the pull of the planet's gravitational core (Cowen, 390). The strength of the gravitational pull of the core is determined by the density and mass of the core. The denser and more massive that the core is, the greater the gravitational pull. If you were to drop a ball to the center of the earth, the gravitational forces would crush it into an ever shrinking volume requiring even greater amounts of force to help it reach escape velocity. As the greatest theoretical speed for any physical object in the universe is that of light (which travels at 186 thousand miles per second) a mass large and dense enough can actually exert so much force that not even light can achieve escape velocity. The object that can pull even light into it and keep it from escaping is a black hole.
Black holes are powerful anomalies which gravitationally suck all matter within their range into their abyss at such a speed as can only recently be measured. Some astro-physicists believe that a black hole is the product of a supernova violently exploding. "Small stars cool off and glow like cinders for eons, but stars with masses ten times that of our sun explode violently as supernovae, leaving behind a neutron star. They also can leave a black hole. Neutron star remnants of supernova explosions, such as the Crab Nebula and its central star, have been directly observed. However, no such direct evidence had been found of a supernova leaving behind a black hole. Some scientists believe that a supernova is not even required to generate a black hole; a star may just contract gravitationally into one (Hellemans, "Smoking Gun," 34)." Indeed more evidence is being discovered every month that supports this theory of how a black hole is born.
Isaac Newton, father of gravitational and physics, developed the laws that are now used to discover the black holes (Melia, 346). Gravity has a mathematical...
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