by William Montgomery

Created on: July 23, 2008

Black holes are not really "holes," but are rather best described as a gravitational anomaly. The theoretical black hole is a point in space which is so massive that the object has literally collapsed in on itself. In terms of actual size, a black hole is very small; however, its mass is often that of a very large Blue Giant star, which has collapsed on itself, unable to support its own weight anymore. There are several theoretical ways a black hole can be formed; for now, let's discuss the most accepted and most commonly known: the collapse of a large star.

Our own star, The Sun, will not turn into a black hole when it dies. It will go through the same basic phases as the stars that do give birth to black holes, but its mass will not be nearly large enough, and its collapse will ultimately result only in a dwarfed, dying star. A Giant Blue star, however, does have the mass to go through the necessary phases to create our black hole. As a star ages, it fuses its compound elements together with the extreme pressure and heat built up inside of it. However, the star itself only has so much fuel, and when it runs out, it begins to contract, with no fuel to keep it burning and expanding.

Once the star contracts to a point, though, the pressure required to fuse the next heaviest element is acquired, and the star begins to use this as fuel, expanding once more due to the newly found intense heat within its core. This happens numerous times, until the star eventually reaches an element that it can no longer fuse. When this happens, the star will soon collapse on itself in a catastrophic event: a Super Nova. This event is so magnificent that it can be seen from neighboring galaxies and will bombard nearby solar systems with intense radiation and heat.

Should the star have been massive enough, a black hole will be left behind. However, if the star did not have enough mass, then a Neutron Star will have been born: a star that is, as its name suggests, comprised entirely of neutrons that are packed as close as they physically can be. This star is super-massive, but physically small when compared to its former state of being. Since gravitational pull is dictated by an objects mass, and not its size, the small, but incredibly dense, star continues to pull debris, dust, and gas towards itself with its strong gravitational field.

There comes a point, however, when this Neutron Star can no longer support its own weight. It becomes so dense and its weight is so great that it collapses

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