• Question: What is a black hole?

    Asked by miacorn to Dave, Ed, Guido, Hugh, Stef on 17 Mar 2015. This question was also asked by vinny.
    • Photo: Ed Rial

      Ed Rial answered on 17 Mar 2015:


      Hello Mia

      A black hole forms when a star is so big that the gravitational force of all that matter overcomes first the forces that keep an atom together (electrostatic forces), pushes the electrons and protons in the star together to form neutrons, at which point the star becomes a neutron star. If the star is even bigger the forces that stop neutrons being smooshed together (the Strong Nuclear Force) then the star collapses into a black hole.

      We don’t know what goes on inside a black hole (what do neutrons collapse into? Are there any other forces going on inside the black hole we haven’t discovered yet?) because the gravity of the black hole is so large that it bends space around it so that light cannot escape.

      Astrophysics is weird!

    • Photo: Dave Bond

      Dave Bond answered on 17 Mar 2015:


      I have to agree with Ed on this one. Its a a region of space having a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation can escape.
      But a cool idea is that they are portals to other universes.

    • Photo: Hugh Harvey

      Hugh Harvey answered on 18 Mar 2015:


      It’s a bit of a mystery to me – but my understanding is that it’s from a dead star that has sucked into itself and has a huge gravitional pull. In fact gravity is so strong that it sucks light inwards, so it looks black!

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