The Mystery Behind Black Holes

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“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1, the beauty of the night sky is nothing compared to the mysteries of space, the secrets it holds and the amazing creations that inhabit it. There are many mysteries for us to discover. One of these secrets are black holes, mass-less, unfathomable invisible stars, these giants of the universe, mercilessly drag everything into its grasp, black holes truly are the one of the supreme mysteries of our time. But what are they really?

A black hole is a region of space from which gravity prevents anything, including light, from escaping. The theory of general relativity predicts that a compact mass will usually deform space to form a black hole. Around a black hole, there is a defined surface called an event horizon that marks the point of no return. The hole is called "black" because it absorbs all the light that hits the horizon, reflecting nothing. Black holes of stellar mass are theorized to form when very massive stars collapse at the end of their life cycle. After a black hole has formed it can continue to grow by absorbing mass from its surroundings. By absorbing other stars and merging with other black holes, super immense black holes of millions of solar masses may form. Most studies of black holes agree that super massive black holes exist in the centers of most galaxies.

How are black holes formed? By the gravitational collapse, Gravitational collapse occurs when an object's internal pressure is not enough to resist the object's own gravity. For stars this usually occurs either because a star has too little "fuel" left to maintain its temperature, or because a star that would have been stable receives extra matter in a way that ca...

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... only black holes are most likely found in far away galaxies; we are far from any jeopardy. The topic of time dilation concerning black holes is something so mystical it’s difficult for our minds to understand, but is a fact that makes these unfathomable masses so incredible, black holes really are a magnificent creation of god and the wonder of them should cause us to declare with great fervor the glory of God as we contemplate the skies.

1. Frequently Asked Questions About Black Holes.

< http://www.phys.vt.edu/~jhs/faq/blackholes.html#q8>

2. Slowing Time to a Standstill with Relativity.

< http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/slowing-time-to-a-standstill-with-relativity.html>

3. Fulbright, Jeanie. Exploring Creation with Astronomy. Cincinnati, Apologia Educational Ministries Inc. 2004

4. Science Encyclopedia. Saffron Hill, Usborne Publishing Ltd, 2000

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