How Are Black Holes Formed?

For many years, black holes have been the subject of much talk and debate. Black holes appear as just that, a small round black hole in the center of lots of light, debris and cool cosmic formations.

A star collapses. Stars are chemical balls of gas and matter which burn massive amounts of fuel for many thousands of years. Eventually, near the end of the life of the star, fuel begins to run out. Stars are like planet Earth and have their own gravitational pull. When fuel begins to deplete, the gravitational pull from the star will suck outward nuclear material closer to the core of the star, where all of the fuel is being burned. When this happens, the nuclear material is used as additional fuel and this helps the star to last a little longer.

White dwarves, neutron stars and black holes. After the nuclear material emitted from and around the star is thoroughly used up, then the gravitational force of the star begins to pull the outer edges of the star into a small, compact form. The electromagnetic force between all of the nuclear particles repels them away from each other at the same time that the star's gravity is pulling them closer together. Now, the end result of the star is entirely dependent upon how strong the gravitational force is and whether or not it pulls the nuclear particles past their point of repelling each other.

White dwarves are formed when the star is not very large, up to eight times the size of our sun, so the gravitational force is not very high. Objects with higher mass have greater amounts of gravitational pull. White dwarves are created when the gravitational pull draws all of the contents and emitting light from the star into a small compact sphere. White dwarves do not have high gravitational pull and can only be compacted so far.

Neutron stars are formed when the star is larger, up to twenty times the size of our sun. The gravitational force of these stars is much higher, so they are able to contract to a much smaller, denser core which is made up only of neutrons. After they have collapsed, if their size is two solar masses or less, then they remain neutron stars.

Black holes are formed when the size of the completely collapsed star is greater than two solar masses. The gravitational force is so strong that it forms what is known as infinite density or singularity. Within approximately two hundred kilometers of the black hole, there is a critical circumference. This is the point at which light, space and time begins to be pulled into the black hole by the incredibly high gravitational force. When the black hole draws greater amounts of material to it, its mass increases which in turn increases the radius of the critical circumference.

Black holes are fascinating, but one thing is for sure. They are definitely not holes! Black holes are collapsed stars whose gravitational force draws all surrounding light and matter into an infinite density. We would like to know more about black holes, but even electromagnetic forces have yet to escape.

Sources:

http://archive.ncsa.illinois.edu/Cyberia/NumRel/BlackHoleFormation.html

http://archive.ncsa.illinois.edu/Cyberia/NumRel/BlackHoleAnat.html