Science Facts Thursday: An Introduction to Black Holes

Its science facts Thursday again!

Today I'm giving you a little introduction on black holes.

So what is a black hole? A black hole is a massive amount of stuff ( the science term is 'matter') that is packed into a tight space.

Just like a tin of sardines, all squished and squashed.

Black holes are often formed by dying stars that collapse in a supernova explosion.
Due to it's density, gravity (a force that pulls things towards the center/core) prevents anything from leaving, even light cannot escape. It has the same effect as deleting the stairs from a swimming pool on The Sims, which we have all done at some point, anything that has gone in, cannot get out.

Doomed.

The term 'Event Horizon' is the point of no return in a black hole, once you have stepped over this point, the ain't no escaping.

It is called a black hole, as it absorbs all the light that reaches the event horizon and reflects nothing. We see objects due to light being reflected into our eyes, so a black hole would appear black.

But if we could see...

Sloth was silly and stepped over the Event Horizon, but don't worry some pretty neat stuff got sucked in too.

Check out this trailer for one of my favourite films, Event Horizon, a sci-fi horror starring that chap from Jurassic Park. About a rescue mission to a spaceship that has returned from a black hole. It's spooky so don't watch it alone.

Don't forget to check back next Thursday for more science facts :)