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Inside Black Holes

They defy imagination: huge, dark, mysterious - and if you get too close, you will never get out! Hypography does the impossible and takes a peek inside these big, black beasts.

Posted by Tormod Guldvog
25 March, 2002 01:03:12

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Einstein's theory of General Relativity predicted that there would exist massive objects where the gravity is so strong that not even light can escape from it. These objects would in effect be endless, black holes. Modern physicists in general agree that the black hole is centered around a singularity, which is a point with infinite mass. In the singularity all physical laws break down.

If a black hole consists of a singularity, there are many possibilites. Some scientists believe that black holes curve space so strongly that it may be possible to travel from one place to another at a speed faster than light. A singularity may also connect our universe to baby universes, which would mean that our universe is not the only one.

There are other theories, though. Lemaître, for example, suggested that black holes could not be denser that the Planck limit, which means that there would be no singularity. In fact, his theory allows for black holes that are not endless pits.

In this theory, it would be impossible to travel through black holes. But more importantly, in Lemaître's black holes the laws of physics would not break down.

There are lots of other theories about black holes. For this hypography we have chosen some websites which offers insight into these theories, and some explanations on the current knowledge about black holes.

Related Links

Black Hole Tutorial
http://cassfos02.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/GR.html
A tutorial for the non-mathematically-challenged among us, with illustrations and explanations

Astronomers Zero In on Center of Milky Way
http://www.foxnews.com/science/092000/blackhole.sml
FOX News reports that scientists have found a giant black hole at the center of our galaxy.

Chandra telescope spots black hole 'missing link'
http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/09/12/new.black.hole/index.html
Article in CNN Interactive.

FAQ about Black Holes
http://itss.raytheon.com/cafe/qadir/abholes.html
The Astronomy Café invites surfers to "Ask the Astronomer". Here are lots of answers to questions about black holes.

Black Holes FAQ
http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/Education/BHfaq.html
A list of frequently asked quations, with answers, by Ted Bunn.

The Search for Black Holes
http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~spac250/steve/index.html
A student project on Black Holes, written by Steven Degennaro at Rice University.

What is a black hole?
http://ericir.syr.edu/Projects/Newton/11/blckhole.html
A good introduction to black holes by the Public Television's Family Science Show.

Imagine the Universe: Black Holes
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/introduction/black_holes.html
A two-level introduction to black holes by NASA.

Friedmann-Lemaître Cosmological Model
http://treasure-troves.wri.com/physics/Friedmann-LemaitreCosmologicalModel.html
See the equations behind the cosmological model which Friedmann and Lemaître created independently.

The Official String Theory Web Site
http://superstringtheory.com/index.html
This web site provides an accessible introduction to cutting edge physics of the next millenium. Cosmology, black holes, extra dimensions and superstring theory are all explained here accompanied by animations and Real Audio interviews with theoretical physicists.¤Theoretical Physic

Black Holes: Predicted Properties and Behaviors
http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/online/bh_teach/thorne/
The RealAudio talk of Dr. Kip S. Thorne (Caltech ) at ITP Teachers Educational Forum on Black Holes: Fact and Fiction

New Horizons in Black Hole Astrophysics
http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/online/bh_teach/blandford/
The RealAudio talk of Dr. Roger Blandford (Caltech) at ITP Teachers Educational Forum on Black Holes: Fact and Fiction

Building a Black Hole in Your Classroom
http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/online/bh_teach/lochner/
The RealAudio talk of Dr. Jim Lochner (NASA/GSFC) at ITP Teachers Educational Forum on Black Holes: Fact and Fiction

What is String Theory and What Does It Have to Do With Black Holes?
http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/online/bh_teach/polchinski/
The RealAudio talk of Dr. Joe Polchinski (ITP, UCSB) at ITP Teachers Educational Forum on Black Holes: Fact and Fiction

Numerical Simulations of Accretion Disks Around Black Holes
http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/online/astrot00/stone/
The RealAudio talk of Dr. James Stone (ITP & University of Maryland) at The ITP (UCSB) program on Astrophysical Turbulence, (April 3, 2000 - June 16, 2000). Coordinators: Eve Ostriker & Ellen Zweibel

Black Holes and Beyond
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/NumRel/BlackHoles.html
An excellent, illustrated walk though the physics of a black hole and how they are discovered, by NASA.

Virtual Trips to Black Holes and Neutron Stars
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html
Fantastic journeys to black holes and neutron stars. See for yourself how these strange objects look.

A Black Hole is born Activity
http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/activities/blackholeisborn/
This is a lesson plan for a classroom activity, in which students can demonstrate how a black hole is formed.

Black holes in "weak" active galactic nuclei
http://doug-pc.itp.ucsb.edu/online/bhole_c99/ho/
A RealAudio talk with online slides, by Luis Ho, Carnegie Observatory, Pasadena.

MicroArcsecond X-ray Imaging Mission
http://maxim.gsfc.nasa.gov/
MAXIM is a project which studies the structure and evolution of the universe. It has the potential to resolve the event horizon of a supermassive black hole.

No Black Holes!
http://www.perceptions.couk.com/uef/nblckhls.html
A rather aggressive paper refuting the evidence of black holes, offering a different perspective.

Optical Black Holes
http://www.aip.org/enews/physnews/2000/split/pnu468-1.htm
A news brief from the American Insitute of Physics, which claims that scientists have been able to create objects which trap specific colors of light in a laboratory.