Black holes are the most mysterious objects in all of the galaxies. They are also the most terrifying. Soon they may control the fate of our whole universe.

Seeing the Invisible

Black holes have been around since the beginning of time, but we didn’t know about them until astronomers developed new ways of looking at our universe. Instead of just light, astronomers now use radio waves, infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays. We need these radio waves to tell if black holes exist. Of course black holes are black, but so is our universe. We can’t see black holes with light because any light that hits them gets absorbed instead of reflected. The strong gravitational pull of the black holes effects the radio waves and sends us a colored picture by using infrared, ultraviolet, X rayed, or gamma rayed radio waves. This shows us a clear picture of what a black hole looks like. Still, we don’t have enough proof that they exist because we cannot see them. They might just be powerful stars capturing light and collecting the waves.

How Black Holes Form

Black holes are probably formed by dead stars. After years and years of dying, stars just collapse. The collapsed star forms a supernova that destroys the planets surrounding it. Eventually the particles of the star and the planets condense making a black hole. The star’s particles are so condensed not even light can escape. Any planets or space objects passing by or orbiting a black hole will be immediately sucked in by its gravity.

We've found some great videos of black holes.  Click on the picture to above to open a new window where you can view the videos.  When you're finished, just close the window and you'll come back here to learn even more!

There’s No Looking Back Now

If you fell into a black hole you would never return. First, the difference in the gravity between your head and your feet would rip you apart. Eventually, you would be crushed out of existence.

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Unless otherwise noted, all images courtesy of NASA. Permission for use at http://www.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/guideline.html.

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