Posted on 04/28/2020 9:25:53 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Black holes are most often discussed in terms of their mass, but how much volume do these hefty, invisible objects actually have?
Lurking at the center of the Milky Way is a gargantuan black hole that tips the scales at several million times the mass of the Sun. Like all black holes, this supermassive monster — called Sagittarius A* — devours anything that falls too close, including light. However, consuming material is just one way these monsters grow to truly astronomical sizes, reaching mindboggling weights. Although astronomers often talk about black holes as being gigantic objects, it’s important to remember they’re usually referring to the object’s mass, not its physical size.
So, one obvious question is: How much space do different types of black holes take up?
Black hole weight classes
The standard black hole, known as a stellar-mass black hole, forms when a massive star (greater than about 8 solar masses) reaches the end of its life. After depleting the last of its remaining nuclear fuel, the star’s uncontested gravity causes it to rapidly collapse before rebounding outward in an epic blast known as a supernova. What remains, depending on the mass of the star, will either be a neutron star or a black hole. These stellar-mass black holes can range from a couple to several dozen times the mass of the Sun.
However, the origins of supermassive black holes like Sagittarius A*, which can range from millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun, remain unknown. Astronomers do know their extreme size and mass seems to be related to the galaxies they call home, with the biggest supermassive black holes found in the centers of the biggest galaxies.
(Excerpt) Read more at astronomy.com ...
Good answer. But, if you really want to know how much space a black whole takes up ask Laz. He’d know.
July 2008 : “Black Hole” is racist per John Wiley Price (Dallas County Commissioner)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc1zGRUPztc
Based on the No Hair Theorem a black hole has only three properties: mass, electrical charge and angular momentum. Diameter I assume is a function of the mass.
Based on Hawking Radiation all black holes are losing mass over time although the process is very slow. An ping pong sized black would take 1.815951e+58 seconds to evaporate.
Our perspective in space-time is not the same as the perspective beyond the event horizon anyway.
Do black holes actually exist or do cosmologists believe they exist? And because cosmologists believe they exist, they believe they see them. I think the existence of black holes is less likely than the existence of sasquatch/big foot.
A singularity is a mathematical concept. Many things can be treated mathematically that are impossible in a physical world. It may be just fine to treat the 'gravitational well' as a singularity for mathematical calculations, but physically, an 'infinitely dense' material occupying zero space makes no sense.
This article is the first I have ever seen that actually estimates the real size of black holes. Most others treat them as "infinitely small". Whether something that's millions of light years away is the size of a golf ball, or or the size of the earth, or even infinitely small, is irrelevant for mathematical analysis. That doesn't make it zero size, though.
Is the 'gravitational well' a physical 'singularity'? I think not.
It is. Our impression of “solid” is the result of the Pauli exclusion principle, that no two electrons can share the same state. But atoms are mostly empty space, mostly “nothing.” It takes tremendous force, and gravity does that, to cause the space inside an atom to be compressed.
Another thing is that on paper, that ping-pong ball or 2 mile sun-mass black hole is the event horizon, and not the size of the mass. If you get that close, you can never leave.
Did Adam & Eve have belly buttons?
If in a vehicle traveling at the speed of light, and turned the lights on would would it make a difference?
If you could run at the speed of sound, and screamed, could you hear it?
What is the speed of dark?
Have a great day!
(forgive me as I am suffering not from the Chinese virus but from Chinese virus promotion fatigue)
The first or one of the early Hidden in Plain Sight books postulates that gravity is not exactly the equation we use now, the equation that results in a “singularity.”
It postulates that at extreme levels, gravity “balances,” pushes back on itself, and that the mass of a black hole is not concentrated at a point, but is (for want of a better visual image) a hollow sphere at the event horizon.
Reading this really blows your hair back. We are so tiny and inconsequential in the scheme of the universe.
It makes me believe that the power of God is beyond our comprehension.
There is also the possibility that the collapse does cause the mass to be compressed to zero size. There may be another type of degeneracy (something like the Pauli exclusion principle) that prevents the matter from being compressed to zero size.
Oops!
There is also the possibility that the collapse does not cause the mass to be compressed to zero size.
Are Black Holes what forms Galxies due to gravitational pull?
*ping*
..Only to be eclipsed by the old cartoon commercial
where the little boy asks a Wise Owl
“How many licks does it take to finish a Tootsie Pop?”
One....Two....THREE....::CHOmP!:
Answer: Three bites.
I can't believe a publication that calls itself "Astronomy" permitted this sentence.
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