• Question: whats your favourite thing about black holes?

    Asked by tram520typy to Viviene DC, Vicky F, Tom, Sebastian J, Natasha P, Michael S, Martin M, DrLukeF, Kirsty L, christinaschoettler on 28 Apr 2025.
    • Photo: Vicky Fawcett

      Vicky Fawcett answered on 27 Feb 2025:

      I love that they are so weird! They are so weird many scientists didn’t believe they were real for a very long time, but we have now even taken a photo of one so they are definitely out there!

      We know that they form when massive stars die and collapse down to a tiny point. We also know that black holes have so much gravity that nothing, not even light, can escape once in a black hole.

      However, we have no idea what is inside a black hole! If we sent in a drone or robot to look inside a black hole, the gravity would be so strong that we could not retrieve the drone to collect the data. The drone/robot also can’t send out a signal to communicate with us because the signal would not be fast enough to escape the black hole! So the inside of a black hole will always remain a mystery.

    • Photo: Martin McCoustra

      Martin McCoustra answered on 28 Apr 2025:

      I have to admit, I prefer normal space to black holes and the gravitationally tortured space in and around them. But they are a great source of material for Science Fiction which I also enjoy.

Comments