I BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW THESE 10 THINGS ABOUT THE BLACK HOLE

The first time i heard of a black hole was in physics class when my teacher mentioned it as a passing remark during a gravity lesson. I was really Fascinated by this concept even if it seemed scary enough when i sat and thought of being gulped into eternal blackness by an all compelling gravitational pull which nothing is strong enough to rescue one from.

WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE??

National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) explains a black hole as a great amount of matter in space, compressed into a relatively smaller enclosure. This effect causes a heavy force of attraction or gravitational field that that is so strong that nothing can escape from it, not even light. This phenomenon is likened to a very large star, larger than planet Earth forced to enter a space as small as one continent.

A black hole core Seen By NASA Telescope

Sit back as i take you through these mind blowing facts. (Please note that some of these concepts are really very complex, i will do my best to break things down as simple as possible).

1. ALBERT EINSTEIN'S RELATIVITY THEORY NEVER MENTIONED A BLACK HOLE

Although the word black hole is always linked to Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, (simply put) showed that when a massive star dies, it leaves behind a small, dense remnant core. If the core's mass is more than about three times the mass of the Sun, the equations showed that the force of gravity overwhelms all other forces and produces a distorted curvature (See More). yet he never ever mentioned the term black hole.
The term was coined by John Wheeler a physicist from Princeton in 1967.

2. A BLACK HOLE IS NOT ACTUALLY A HOLE

Contrary to speculations, a black hole is not an empty hollow space, no. It is a densely packed body which exerts a very strong gravitational pull.

3. THEY ARE MOSTLY FORMED FROM DYING STARS

In the milky way (our Galaxy), stars may lose energy thereby "getting old" and may collapse. A dead star which is at least 3 times the size of our sun will collapse upon itself and kind of cave-in to form a nucleus or core which is called a singularity. If the singularity is strong enough to trap even light then you have your black hole and it is for this reason that is popularly said that the beginning of a black hole is the end of a star.

4. THE BLACK HOLE HAS A POINT OF NO RETURN

The point of no return is used to refer to a point in a black hole just after the event horizon. The event horizon is what we might see as the surface of the core

Illustration showing the point of no return

Beyond this point, anything and everything will be trapped including light. Scientists are still working assiduously to develop technologies that can enable them see what goes on beyond the event horizon.

5. TIME FREEZES CLOSE TO A BLACK HOLE

Scientists have observed that when watching a black hole through a  telescope, objects tend to freeze near a black hole. This simply implies that the time close to a black hole is relatively slower than the time here on earth. This means that if a man live close to black hole, he can live a longer life than a man  on earth. Events happen slowly, time freezes. This is a particularly interesting property to think of. It may be truly appreciated by imagining a twin brother living close to a black hole while one lives here on earth. The one on earth will age faster than the one up there.

6. THE BLACK HOLE RELEASES VERY BRIGHT VISIBLE LIGHT

Contrary to its name the black hole, scientists observing super massive black holes such as S5 0014+81 and H1821+643 have observed that black holes emit visible light with a very great intensity and heat. How is it possible? The black holes form by "eating up" stars and other particles, when this happens, there are massive and turbulent collisions that emit monstrous amount of energies in form of light and heat that is millions of times greater than our planet Earth Sun's heat

A black hole emitting light

7. THE STABILITY OF OUR PLANET IS DEPENDENT ON A BLACK HOLE 

Newton propounded a Law called "the Law of Universal Gravitation". It states that two masses M1 amd m2 at a distance Say R radius from each other will exert a gravitational pull that is Proportional to the product of their masses and Inversely Proportional to the Square of the distance between them. Using this law 100 years ago, Albert Einstein predicted through his theory of  general relativity that there is a gravitational pull on earth by a massive object some distance away from the earth. It was not until very recently, according to mashable blog that scientist and space  Researchers working with the recently upgraded Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) — a set of two identical observatories located in Washington and Louisiana — revealed that they have directly seen the ripples in space-time, which are known as gravitational waves, created by two black holes that collided about 1.3 billion years ago and each black hole was 30 times the mass of the sun, researchers said.
Our Earth is standing in place and balance by the black fused black holes.

8. YOU CAN TRAVEL A  MILLION LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF TIME THROUGH A WORM HOLE

If a black hole is inverted it forms a light Hole. The tunnel through a light hole and a black hole is known as a worm hole. In theory, an object can time travel through a worm hole to another point in time and space with incredible speeds that could cover millions of light years in a few hours. 

Startrek.com puts it this way: "A Transversible worm hole known alternatively as a Lorentzian wormhole, Schwarzschild wormhole or Einstein-Rosen bridge, is a theoretical opening in space-time allowing a “shortcut” through intervening space to another location in the Universe. However, from the outside wormholes may exhibit many of the characteristics usually associated with a black hole and be virtually impossible to tell apart.

This ultimately means that with the right equipment and knowledge, time travel cold actually be a reality.

9. THE EARTH IS HEADING FOR A COLLISION WITH A MASSIVE BLACK HOLE

Astronomers and NASA agents have sighted a massive black hole on a collision course with our dear planet earth. They Say that in 4 Billion Light years from now, the earth will collide with a black hole which will cause a great destruction of the present earth and guess what? Some other Planet would be formed. It is not know for now what will be the outcome of that merger but it will surely be a catastrophic event that will change planet earth permanently

Simulation of what would happen to earth in case of a collision with a black hole

10. ALL GRAVITATIONAL LAWS FAIL INSIDE A BLACK HOLE

Newton's law of Universal gravitation was proven wrong by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Beyond the event horizon, all gravitational laws fail. The gravitational pull is too strong to keep up with newton's laws..