• Question: how is a black hole created?

    Asked by anon-219145 to Bella, Nicolas on 14 Jun 2019. This question was also asked by anon-219828, anon-219696.
    • Photo: Bella Boulderstone

      Bella Boulderstone answered on 14 Jun 2019:


      A black hole is created when a star that is big enough (not our Sun!) comes to the end of its life. This happens when there isn’t enough fuel at the center to keep producing energy to stop it collapsing (there’s a balance of the energy from the center vs the gravity trying to collapse). When the star runs out of fuel, it collapses and all the stuff at the very center gets squished and squashed until you can’t fit anything else into that spot, and then you squish more stuff into it! It becomes very hot and the particles eventually collapse so much they create a black hole. This wild breakdown of physics triggers an explosion in the rest of the star and forces everything outward in what’s known as a supernovae. The thing in the very center that’s left, that’s a black hole!

Comments