• Question: how are black hole made

    Asked by desmond to Alison, Artem, Caroline, John, Gunther on 19 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Artem Evdokimov

      Artem Evdokimov answered on 19 Jun 2012:

      Basically the idea is to cram a lot of mass/energy into a very tiny space – the condensed mass warps the space/time continuum to such a degree that the result is a black hole – something that is likely happening as certain types of stars age and ‘die’. Despite popular belief it is not entirely clear whether black holes could be created by collisions of high-energy particles in the range of energies that is available to us so far.

    • Photo: Matt Gunther

      Matt Gunther answered on 19 Jun 2012:

      Typically black holes are produced as a result of the collapse of a dying star. However, this depends upon the initial mass of the dying star in question… If the mass is greater than a specific limit (the Chandrasekhar limit) (i.e. very very big) it may very well form a black hole… It’s all dependent upon the star’s ability to withstand the huge gravitational forces it experiences during it’s collapse.

      Interestingly, there are theories and measurements to suggest that there is a black hole at the centre of every Galaxy in the Universe. These are known as active galactic nuclei or supermassive black holes.

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