The Core

Calculating Hawking radiation

Let's do some calculations!

What kind of radiation would be sent from a black hole the mass of Earth?

We know the Energy of a photon of this Radiation:

This doesn't tell us a lot, does it? The frequency would be more interesting. No problem:

Putting in the energy:

The frequency of Hawking radiation emintted by a black hole the mass of Earth this is:

Such a black hole would send out microwaves as used for radar!

A photo showing a radar of the Space Radar Laboratory. NASA Photo ID: STS059-215-022 Date Taken: 04/10/94 Courtesy of NIX NASA Image Exchange.

What kind of radiation radiates from the black hole in the Story "The Hole Man"?

This black hole weights .

Help! This is hard gamma-radiation! We should check if it's a dangerous amount later on.

How heavy does a black hole have to be in order to emit visible light?

The frequency of visible light lies between and .

A black hole of     will emit a dark red and a black hole of   will emit a deep violet light.

Scientists suspect that a black hole weighing 3 billion Suns is lying at the center of galaxy M87. Calculate what kind of radiation will it emit! Courtesy of NASA and K. Gebhardt (Lick Observatory) NIX NASA Image Exchange.

"Black holes aren't black - After Hawking they shine!"
Presented by Angie, Matthias and Thorsten
Team C007571,ThinkQuest Internet Challenge 2000.
Last modified: 2000-08-02.