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12 Black Hole Facts For Kids 2024 [Things You Should Know]

Imagine a giant magnet that can attract anything around it. This magnet is so strong that it can absorb light and air. A black hole is similar to a magnet in all aspects. While magnets attract metals using magnetic force, a black hole attracts anything around it with the help of its strong gravitational pull. It is one of the most astonishing elements in the universe. Though it was discovered as early as the 1960s, we still don’t know the exact working of the black hole to date.

Black Hole Facts For Kids

Even though research surrounding black holes still has a ton of new information to discover, there’s so much to learn about black holes with the information we have at present. 

Let’s take a closer look at some interesting information about black holes. 

12 Fun Facts About Black Holes

Black holes are mysterious elements of the universe. 

Imaginary Image of Black Hole

Black holes are one of the most mysterious elements in the universe and are very powerful. They have a powerful gravitational force that even light cannot escape. Generally, the visibility of an object depends upon the angle at which the light reflects on the object; this gives the object a characteristic color. Since the black hole absorbs even the light reflected on it, it is not visible and looks like a black entity. Hence, its name.

The formation of a black hole is fascinating. 

Star Explosion

Black holes are formed when a large star or stars explode and condense. This happens at the end of their life cycle. This star explosion is called a supernova. Usually, the young stars are larger but have a low density. As the age of the star increases, they condense, becoming very dense and smaller in size. This will create immense pressure from the inside, resulting in the stars’ explosion and this supernova’s formation of the black hole. Since it has a high density, the gravitational force is also extremely high, which gives the black hole this characteristic. However, the black hole is not a permanent entity; it will slowly disintegrate after millions of years and give back the energy to the universe.

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There are four types of black holes.

Though all black holes have the same features, they are not the same. Black holes can be classified into four types. They are primordial black holes, intermediate black holes, stellar black holes, and supermassive black holes. Stellar black holes are the most common variety of black holes which are formed as a result of a stellar explosion. The primordial black holes were created due to the Big Bang, which led to the universe’s formation. They don’t exist today but are considered the starting point of this universe. A supermassive black hole is an entity that is usually present in the center of the galaxy and is formed by the merger of more supernovae or the newly formed black holes. The intermediate black holes are the ones that are found between the supermassive black holes and the giant stars. They are usually smaller than supermassive black holes.

Blackholes have high gravitational force. 

Black holes are considered to be entities with high gravitational force; it is not only that it is one of the heaviest spaces in the universe. Even a tiny intermediate black hole has the mass of millions of stars in them. Our sun is considered to have a million times the weight of the earth we live in. The black hole tends to have thousands to millions of times the weight of the earth.

Space matter gets lost inside black holes. 

Space

The black holes have a boundary called the event horizon. Any object which crosses it cannot be retrieved back to space. This line is the depiction of the extent of the gravitational force of the black hole. Even large entities like stars get gobbled up by this black hole. 

Researchers know that black holes exist because of the matter that surrounds it. 

You might wonder, “If the black hole is a black and non-describable entity, how do the scientists know they are there ?” A black hole cannot be seen because of its strong gravity and ability to absorb electromagnetic radiation like light passing through them. But scientists can study how strong the gravity of the black hole can affect the surrounding stars. Scientists also study the stars and their composition to understand the black holes.

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Black holes cannot swallow the earth. 

Many people have a common question: whether a black hole can swallow the earth or the solar system. While it might seem like it could happen, scientists tell us it is impossible because the black holes don’t move around and swallow stars, moons, and planets. Therefore, black holes tend to stay in the same place, and no black hole is close enough to the solar system to swallow us all up. Additionally, the sun can never become a black hole because it is a small star with a low density, so it will have a different end when its life cycle is complete.

NASA has discovered a lot of previously undiscovered information about black holes. 

Black Hole in the space

NASA and other space agencies have identified thousands of potential black holes in the past years. However, the astronomer predicts that the number of black holes is not in thousands but billions. NASA’s space mission Event Horizon has also confirmed this. 

Black holes have an extremely strong gravitational pull. 

In 2015, two black holes collapsed and crashed into each other. This happened nearly a billion light years away from us. They were not destroyed but became a much larger black hole. This showed scientists the gravitational pull of a black hole is strong enough to pull another black hole.

The black hole closest to the earth is millions of light years away. 

First Image of Black Hole
Image by eso.org

The closest black hole to us is in the center of the milky way galaxy called the Sagittarius-a. It is nearly millions of lightyears away from the sun and weighs millions more than the sun.

Black holes cause gravitational time dilation. 

The powerful gravity of the black hole causes gravitational time dilation. If a space probe is entering the event horizon of the black hole, for the observer on the ship, it will take infinite time for the probe to reach the black hole.

The first black hole image was released in 2019.

After so many years of hard work, the first image of a black hole was published on April 19th, 2019. The image was of a supermassive black hole. This black hole was at the center of a galaxy called Virgo A(NGC 4486). The black hole was designated as M87. 

Conclusion 

Astronomy is one of the most interesting areas of study because there is so much that we don’t know about the universe and all of its components. Black holes, in particular, are an area that we know very little about, but with developing technology and advancing research, we know more and more about it every day. In this article, we looked at 12 facts about black holes. Even though we barely scratched the surface when it comes to information about black holes, we hope that information we gave you inspired you to keep going in your own research.

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