BLACK HOLES:101

MANY SCIENTISTS,INCLUDING STEPHEN HAWKING,HAVE DEVOTED A LARGE PART OF THEIR CAREER TO THE STUDY OF BLACK HOLES AND YET THE KNOWLEDGE WE HAVE IS LIMITED.bLACK HOLES ARE REGIONS IN SPACE WHERE THE MASS IS SO DENSE THAT THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL IS IMMENSE AND ANYTHING THAT VENTURES TOO CLOSE;A STAR,A PLANET OR EVEN LIGHT,IS STRETCHED AND COMPRESSED IN A THEORETICAL PROCESS aptly named SPAGHETTIFICATION.THE MAJORITY OF BLACK HOLES ARE FORMED FROM the remnants of stars after they die.Star are constantly going through the process of nuclear fusion due to the immense heat and pressure that occurs within them.Throughout the life cycle of the star the pressure from the nuclear fusion reactions balances out the gravitational pull of the star however at the end of the stars life,when there are no longer any elements left to fuse,the gravitational pull is too great and the star collapses in on it self,eventually leading to a black hole.There could be a countless amount of black holes hiding in our own milky way,including one in the centre,named the sagittarius a*.
Yet you may be wondering how we can see an object that absorbs light itself?Scientists use a couple of different methods to corroborate wether a black hole is present or not.One method is by tracking the movements of nearby celestial objects that move haphazardly due to the acute gravitational pull of the black hole.Another way is by seeing objects orbit the black hole,which to the naked eye, seems like it is orbiting nothing.This was the method used to identify the Sagittarius a* black hole in 1974.
Throughout popular media,black holes are depicted as malevolent ,all-comusing dangerous objects that we all must fear.However this is false and the earth will never be “eaten” by a black hole simply because there is not one close enough to the solar system for this to happen.additionally,the sun is not large enough to become a black hole at the end of its life and so the earth is not in any danger.Having said this,even if the sun were to turn into a black hole the gravitational pull would be similar to the force at the present and the planets would not change their orbit.Ultimately there is no way that the earth would be able to fall in a black hole,rest assured that if this were to happen it would be too dark for you to notice a thing!