References

Black Holes, Explained. (2018, September 25). Retrieved October 14, 2018, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/black-holes/

What I Learned:

This website provided me with information regarding what a black hole is on the surface level with some basic and important scientific facts regarding black holes. The website provided me with information about the properties of a black hole which are mass electrical charge and spin due to angular momentum. Other than giving me further information about these properties, the website also told me about the process behind how a black hole is formed and different ways this could happen. Furthermore, the website informed me about the history of the black hole, and some of the people who had the greatest involvement and contribution towards black holes. It told me about people such as John Michell, Pierre-Simon Laplace, Karl Schwarzschild, and David Finkelstein. The website gave information about the theories these scientists had as well as perceptions regarding black holes. Additionally, it also connected information and research done by these people to Einstein’s theory of relativity.

 

 

 

Dunbar, B. (2015, June 01). What Is a Black Hole? Retrieved October 12, 2018, from https://www.space.com/15421-black-holes-facts-formation-discovery-sdcmp.html

What I Learned:

This website also gave me interesting facts about a black hole like its appearance and its believability in terms of scientific evidence. The website also informed me about the gravity and what is theoretically felt in terms of gravitational force near a black hole. The website also provided me with important information about the types of black holes. It informed that the types are Primordial black holes, Miniature black holes, Stellar black holes, Intermediate black holes, and Supermassive black holes. The website provided me with information about the condition of creations of these black holes and connected it with the theory of the big bang. It also gave valuable information about how these could grow and what the most abundant type of black hole is, again using the theory of the big bang and using time to explain the growth and abundance.

 

 

 

What is a Black Hole and Types of Black Holes. (2017, November 08). Retrieved October 13, 2018, from https://www.eartheclipse.com/space/what-and-types-of-black-hole.html

What I Learned:

This website told me more about the creation of black getting into supernovas while also talking about things such as neutron stars, dwarf stars, and other information about stars and also connecting that information to black holes. The website also talked about the Sun while again, connecting to black holes. Additionally, it provided me with information about the parts of a black hole. The website talked about 5 main parts, the first one being event horizon, the second one being the singularity, the third one being photon sphere, the fourth one being ergosphere, and the fifth one being innermost stable circular object or ISCO. The website gave me specific information about these specific parts of a black hole while also introducing me to some terms that are important regarding the learning of black holes. I was introduced to terms like frame dragging and accretion. These phenomena were used to talk about and explain different information regarding black holes.

 

 

 

Freudenrich, P. C. (2018, March 08). How Black Holes Work. Retrieved November 4, 2018, from https://science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/astronomy-terms/black-hole3.htm

What I learned:

I learned that every galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center. These black holes exist in our own Milky Way galaxy and other galaxies like Andromeda galaxy. These black holes are also the reason that galaxies spin. Some galaxies consist of two supermassive black holes called the binary system. Due to gravity, these black holes will eventually merge just like the milky way and the Andromeda galaxy will merge in billions of years. The merging of black holes or galaxies is known as galactic mergers. The Milky Way galaxy spins at about 168 miles per second. This spin is caused due to the gravitational pull and angular momentum of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. Although the gravitational force between other objects inside the galaxy also contributes to the spin. An interesting thing about the supermassive black hole is that although it is very large, a person or object would have to deep into the black hole past the event horizon to actually feel the intense gravitational force.

 

 

 

Goudarzi, S. (2016, March 08). The Tricky Task of Detecting Black Holes. Retrieved November 4, 2018, from https://www.space.com/3457-tricky-task-detecting-black-holes.html

What I learned:

The second law of thermodynamics states that the total entropy of an isolated system can never decrease over time. The total entropy can remain constant in ideal cases where the system is in a steady state or is undergoing a reversible process. The hypothesis for black holes being unable to decrease relies on the second law of black hole mechanics and it is very similar to the second law of thermodynamics. The fact that black holes can radiate blackbody radiation at a specific temperature further strengthens the link between the two laws. Supermassive black holes also drive active galactic nuclei and galactic jets. Active galactic nuclei refer to the extremely luminous center of some galaxies. Instead of being thermal energy, the energy emitted is actually in the form of X-ray, radio, ultraviolet, and optical radiation. In the case of galactic jets, the magnetic fields of the supermassive black hole and the accretion disk interact and this interaction simultaneously releases energy from the black hole.

 

 

 

Viani, L. (2014). Detection of Black Holes. Retrieved November 4, 2018, from http://minerva.union.edu/vianil/web_stuff2/detection_of_Black_Holes.htm

What I learned:

The electromagnetic radiation can have different wavelengths and that is what determines where a wave lies on the spectrum. Longer wavelengths relative to visible light gives us things like infrared rays, radar, and various radio waves (AM, FM, TV). However, when these wavelengths get shorter, we see ultraviolet rays, x-rays, and gamma rays. These waves of light can be used to detect a black hole through the detection of the effects of a black hole. When anything enters a black hole, it accelerates rapidly and heats up. The matter funnels around the singularity due to gravity. The atoms that make up that matter ionize and once the temperatures reach a few million Kelvins, X-rays are released. By using special telescopes fitted with special lenses, scientists and observers can see the x-rays being emitted from the black hole. The emissions, however, are not constant since what goes into a black hole and how often is not uniform.

 

 

 

Howell, E. (2017, March 30). Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity. Retrieved November 8, 2018, from https://www.space.com/36273-theory-special-relativity.html

What I Learned:

It is mainly the combination of Einstein’s theory of relativity and Schwarzschild’s radius coupled with Newton’s laws of motion that allow scientists, theorists, physicists, and mathematicians to prove the existence and other properties of black holes on paper through mathematical evidence. In 1905, Albert Einstein determined that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers and that the speed of light in a vacuum was independent of the motion of all observers. This was the theory of special relativity. It introduced a new framework for all of physics and proposed new concepts of space and time. Einstein then spent 10 years trying to incorporate acceleration in the theory and published his theory of general relativity in 1915. In the theory, Einstein stated that he determined that massive objects cause a distortion in space-time, which is felt as gravity. The famously known equation for energy by Einstein is part of the mathematical evidence. Energy = mass times the speed of light squared. The E represents Energy, the m represents mass, and c represents the speed of light. The equation shows that mass and energy are interchangeable and are just different forms of the same thing. The equation shows how much energy would be in a specific amount of mass, and that is essential to the mathematics behind a black hole. The equation dictates that with speed, mass also increases, and at maximum speed which is the speed of light, the mass of the object would be infinite. If the mass of an object is infinite, then it would require an infinite amount to energy to move that object, consequently capping the maximum speed any amount of mass can achieve.

 

 

 

Outer Space Central, A. (2016). Einstein Relativity. Retrieved November 7, 2018, from http://www.outerspacecentral.com/relativity_page.html

What I Learned:

The fastest moving things in the universe, photons are light particles that move at the speed to light and are only able to do so because they have a mass of zero. Quantum mechanics is the body of scientific laws that describe the wacky behavior of photons, electrons and the other particles that make up the universe. In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics and is used to construct physical models of subatomic particles (in particle physics) and quasiparticles (in condensed matter physics). Even in empty space, quantum fields carry energy. As the field gets larger, so does the amount of energy. Once the amount of energy and consequently the amount of mass get big enough, the universe folds in on itself due to an absurd amount of energy in the quantum fields. This results in the formation of a black hole. The general theory of relativity is presented by an equation. The equation essentially calculates the information regarding how a specific amount of mass and energy warps space-time. The left-hand side of the equation describes the curvature of spacetime whose impact scientists perceive as gravitational force. The left-hand side is the analogue of F which represents force in the newton’s formula for force in his second law of motion.

 

 

 

Tong, D. (2018, July 26). What is general relativity? Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://plus.maths.org/content/what-general-relativity

What I Learned:

Einstein then spent 10 years trying to incorporate acceleration in the theory and published his theory of general relativity in 1915. In the theory, Einstein stated that he determined that massive objects cause a distortion in space-time, which is felt as gravity. The famously known equation for energy by Einstein is part of the mathematical evidence. Energy = mass times the speed of light squared. The E represents Energy, the m represents mass, and c represents the speed of light. The equation shows that mass and energy are interchangeable and are just different forms of the same thing. The equation shows how much energy would be in a specific amount of mass, and that is essential to the mathematics behind a black hole. The equation dictates that with speed, mass also increases, and at maximum speed which is the speed of light, the mass of the object would be infinite. If the mass of an object is infinite, then it would require an infinite amount to energy to move that object, consequently capping the maximum speed any amount of mass can achieve.

 

 

 

Kelley, L. (2018, June 25). How Many Types of Black Holes Are There? Retrieved December 2, 2018, from https://owlcation.com/stem/What-Are-The-Different-Types-of-Black-Holes

What I Learned:

According to this equation, anything can become a black hole. Mathematically, you could compress anything into a small enough area to turn it into a black hole, and that is the essence of what the Schwarzschild radius truly is. The Schwarzschild Radius allows scientists to calculate how something must be to make it into a black hole. The Schwarzschild Radius is equal to two multiplied the gravity constant multiplied by the mass of the black hole. All of that divided by the speed of light squared. The R stands for Schwarzschild Radius, the G stands for the gravity constant, the M stands for the mass, and the c stands for the speed of light. So basically, the Schwarzschild Radius is the radius of the event horizon of the black hole. This formula is also how scientists are able to figure out the minimum masses or radius of the event horizon of several different things when it comes to black holes. These range from information about the minimum mass and radius of primordial black holes all the way to supermassive black holes.

 

 

 

Tang, Z.-Y., Zhang, C.-Y., Kord Zangeneh, M., Wang, B., & Saavedra, J. (2017). Thermodynamical and dynamical properties of charged BTZ black holes. The European Physical Journal C – Particles and Fields, 77(6). Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A501298304/GPS?u=miss91533&sid=GPS&xid=6268f794

What I Learned:

So basically, the Schwarzschild Radius is the radius of the event horizon of the black hole. This formula is also how scientists are able to figure out the minimum masses or radius of the event horizon of several different things when it comes to black holes. These range from information about the minimum mass and radius of primordial black holes all the way to supermassive black holes. Schwarzschild was the first person who was able to solve Einstein’s general relativity equations for some specific variables. His solution of the equations described the gravitational field of a spherically-symmetrical body which in this case would be a black hole. In order to understand this better, we can also take a look at the Earth and its tides as an example. Whatever part of the Earth is closer to the moon, will have a stronger gravitational pull from the moon. The attraction gives us high and low tides. Although the moon’s gravity is nowhere near strong enough to spaghetti Earth or vice versa, we are able to notice the impacts of gravitational pull depending on the position of the two masses, which hopefully allows us to understand spaghettification better. This is also why the forces of gravity causing spaghettification can be referred to as tidal forces.

 

 

 

Orwig, J. (2014, December 12). Here’s what happens when you enter a black hole. Retrieved December 8, 2018, from https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-when-you-enter-a-black-hole-2014-12

What I Learned:

Ok, first of all, you really won’t be able to experience the effects of a black hole from that close. Your body or rather body parts might, but you won’t be able to perceive anything going on, because you will be dead. Let’s say someone gets sucked into the black hole. Once he gets to the event horizon, he will begin to feel the attraction from the singularity he will notice an irregularity regarding how much attraction he is experiencing. Whatever part of the body is closer to the black hole will fell a greater attraction than the body part furthest away from the black hole. So assuming he is going into the black hole feet first, his body would look something like this. It will be stretched and elongated as the feet get pulled in faster than the part of the body above it. His molecules will be violently ripped and stretched apart. The rate of increase in speed also increases for the body part closer to the black hole. So as he gets closer, the intensity of the stretch increases. In scientific terms, this process is called spaghettification. Spaghettification is the vertical stretching and horizontal compression of objects into long thin shapes in a very strong non-homogeneous gravitational field. This term is used to describe this process because your body stretches out and starts to look like a piece of spaghetti. Also, don’t be mistaken; spaghettification does not only happen if a human enters the black hole. In fact, any object entering the black hole will experience this.