... given by: r=2GM/c2 (O"Neill, 138) Where r is the Schwarzschild radius, G is the gravity on the surface of the star, M is the mass of the star, and c is the speed of light. As particles approach this radius they are accelerated toward the speed of light. Because of this phenomenon, even light that gets caught in the gravitational spiral of a black hole cannot escape. 3. Time Dilation This leads us into the idea ... of time dilation, the phenomenon that time appears to slow down as one approaches the speed of light in the outer spiral of a black hole. Relativity gives that ... ...

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... forming a four-dimensional space called spacetime (Hawking 118). This space is not flat but rather distorted and curved by the matter and energy within it. The curvature of spacetime can be observed in the bending of the light or even radio waves that travel close to a strong gravitational field. This field would be so strong around and within a black hole that not even ... volume (internet 1). The second discovery that sparked researchers to believe these objects were infact black holes was the detection of a spectral line from one galactic nucleus that indicates the presence of atoms ...

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... that a cold and sufficiently massive star must collapse indefinitely, becoming a black hole. Oppenheimer and Snyder could have never figured this out without the earlier work of Einstein and his general theory of relativity, which states that nothing can travel at the speed of light or faster. Further studies were taken by a German astronomer, Karl Schwarzchild. Using Einstein's equations as a guide, he found that the effects ... defined, and vice-versa. If a particle is in a black hole, its position is well-defined to be within the black hole. This means that its speed cannot be exactl...

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• Grade Level: High School

... and more powerful. The most defining quality of a black hole is its emission of gravitational waves so strong they can cause light to bend toward it. Gravitational waves are disturbances in the curvature of space-time caused by the motions of matter. Propagating at (or near) the speed of light, gravitational waves do not through space-time as such -- the fabric of space-time itself is oscillating. Though ... The first scientists to really take an in depth look at black holes and the collapsing of stars, were professor Robert Oppenheimer and his student, Hartland Snyder, in the early nin...

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... more powerful. The most defining quality of a black hole is its emission of gravitational waves so strong they can cause light to bend toward it. Gravitational waves are disturbances in the curvature of space-time caused by the motions of matter. Propagating at (or near) the speed of light, gravitational waves do not travel through space-time as such -- the fabric of space-time itself is oscillating. Though ... The first scientists to really take an in depth look at black holes and the collapsing of stars, were professor Robert Oppenheimer and his student, Hartland Snyder, in the early ni...

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... . The first scientists to really take an in depth look at black holes and the collapsing of stars, were professor Robert Oppenheimer and his student, Hartland Snyder, in the early nineteen hundreds. They concluded on the basis of Einstein's theory of relativity that if the speed of light was the utmost speed of any object, then nothing could escape a black hole once in its gravitational orbit. The name ... black hole was given due to the fact that light could not escape from the gravitational pull from the core, thus making the "black ... hole" impossible for humans to see without using...

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