Essay sample dedicated to black holes

Essay sample dedicated to black holes During the past several decades, major scientific discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics were made that changed the way people perceive space and universe. Many space objects and phenomena were discovered including exoplanets, extrasolar planets, gravitational waves, and so on (Hill, 2010). Moreover, scientists have been interested in collecting information about black holes â€" mysterious and dangerous space objects possessing massive gravitational attraction. The main characteristic of this extraordinary object is that it possesses a huge amount of mass concentrated in an extremely small area. Due to this unique feature, a black hole can devour all objects near it including light, which is why people cannot see them without special telescopes (Anderson, 2015). In this essay, I intend to describe these amazing space objects in detail by focusing on their types, structure, and processes occurring inside them. Research on Black Holes The first questions I will answer in this essay are “When were black holes first theorized?” and “Who discovered black holes?” Interestingly, although only advanced equipment allows finding a black hole in the immense outer space, the first theories about this object were made back in the 18th century. Amateur astronomer John Mitchell used Newton’s research on gravity and suggested that there should be incredibly dense celestial objects that are able to escape velocity equals (Waxman, 2017). Although his suggestions were later supported by the French scholar Pierre Laplace, the scientific community did not take them seriously because no one could even imagine that such an extraordinary thing can exist in the universe (Rau, 2015). Even genius Albert Einstein doubted whether black holes actually existed and argued that they were no more than a figment of the imagination of enthusiastic mathematicians and astronomers. With the advancement of technologies, researchers managed to collect much evidence proving that John Mitchell was right â€" black holes exist, and they are as real any other celestial object. Although it is impossible to take a picture of a black hole to prove its existence, researchers can learn where exactly it is located by exploring how it affects the nearby environment. More specifically, scholars have explored how black holes devour light, dust, and astronomical objects, as well as how they interact with galaxies (Rau, 2015). These objects are surrounded by the discs of material that spin around them so fast that they emit X-rays, which can be easily detected by telescopes (Anderson, 2015). As the technology develops further, we can learn more about these magnificent objects, so one may suggest that the most groundbreaking discoveries are coming soon. Black Holes: Description and Black Holes Facts At this point, I would like to explore black holes in detail to learn how black holes are formed, what is inside a black hole and how these objects differ from each other. Researchers explain that when giant stars reach their final stage of development, they explode in the impressive phenomenon known as a supernova. As a result, these stars begin to collapse in upon themselves, creating the powerful gravitational pull (National Geographic, 2017). Notably, although black holes devour energy, the amount of matter they can pull inside cannot be larger than their own mass. When an object approaches a black hole, it needs to reach the point of no return, which is the point from which it cannot escape from the hole’s gravitation (National Geographic, 2017). Furthermore, researchers have been concerned with answering the question “How large can the volume of a black hole get?” Theoretically, one may assume that such an object can continuously devour matter and ultimately destroy the whole universe. However, it is practically impossible, so the largest black holes can only reach the mass ten billion times the mass of our Sun (Plait, 2016). “How do black holes grow?” is another question attracting scholars’ attention. Research and theoretical findings demonstrate that these celestial objects can grow over time by consuming energy. However, it would be wrong to claim that they are similar to large vacuum cleaners that suck everything around. In fact, researchers argue that if a black hole with the same mass as our Sun replaced it, it would not devour this planet, and all planets would continue to revolve around it as they did with the Sun (Waxman, 2017). It is also incorrect to think that black holes are immortal because scientists also proved that they can seize to exist over time (Siegel, 2014). So how do black holes evaporate? This question is difficult to answer in several sentences because evaporation is associated with complex physical and chemical processes that may complement each other and produce a powerful effect. Briefly speaking, although black holes indeed devour objects, they still emit some energy, which can gradually decrease black holes’ mass, thus leading to their gradual disappearance (Siegel, 2014). Moreover, one needs to note that it is still unknown what is inside a black hole because scientists can only imagine how such a unique fabric of spacetime can look like. Finally, one needs to describe the classification of black holes. There are three main types of black holes including stellar black holes, supermassive black holes, and miniature black holes, which differ depending on the star they evolved from, as well as their age. For example, miniature holes have evolved from stars much smaller than our Sun. These types of black holes affect their environment differently, but the principle of their existence is similar. To conclude, black holes are indeed extraordinary astronomical objects that have fascinated and frightened people from the day of their discovery. Scholars have managed to learn more about these celestial bodies, but there are surely many things we still do not know about them.