Science
What is Black hole?
A black hole is a region of space where gravity is so strong that nothing — not even light — can escape once it crosses the boundary called the event horizon. They form when massive stars collapse at the end of their lives.
See it, don’t just read it.
Watch a 2-minute lesson with voice + animation that explains black hole.
Key things to understand
- 1The event horizon is the point of no return; anything crossing it cannot get back out.
- 2At the center is the singularity, where matter is crushed to near-infinite density.
- 3Black holes are not cosmic vacuum cleaners — you only fall in if you cross the event horizon; otherwise you can orbit one like any massive object.
- 4Supermassive black holes, millions to billions of times the Sun's mass, sit at the center of most galaxies, including our Milky Way.
Frequently asked questions
- Can we see a black hole?
- Not directly, since light can't escape. We see them by their effects: glowing superheated matter swirling around them, and the bending of light. The first image of one was captured in 2019.
- What happens if you fall into a black hole?
- Tidal forces stretch you out in a process nicknamed 'spaghettification.' From far away, you'd appear to freeze and fade at the event horizon due to extreme time dilation.
- How big can a black hole get?
- Supermassive black holes can exceed billions of times the Sun's mass. The one in our galaxy, Sagittarius A*, is about 4 million solar masses.