Page 42 - DK Children's Encyclopedia

Black holes SEE ALSO

▸ ▸ Galaxies p.116
▸ ▸ Gravity p.125
Black holes are the universe’s most mysterious objects. ▸ ▸ Light p.147
They form when a star much more massive than the sun ▸ ▸ Physics p.192
runs out of fuel. It explodes as a “supernova,” then ▸ ▸ Stars p.242

collapses under its own gravity, creating a black hole. ▸ ▸ Sun p.247

▸ ▸ Volume p.269
The edge of a
The enormous black hole is called
gravity of a black an event horizon.
hole distorts space
Invisible monster and time.
We can’t see black holes, as even
light gets trapped by their gravity.
However, many are surrounded by
hot discs of gas and dust, which give
off high-energy radiation that can
be seen using special telescopes.

Black holes can
collide with other
black holes and
get larger.

Supermassive black hole The center of a
black hole is called
The most massive black holes are found at the a singularity.
center of galaxies such as the Milky Way. They
may form when massive clouds of gas collapse.

Spaghettification
Things that fall into black holes are
stretched out, or “spaghettified.” An
imaginary astronaut would feel a
stronger pull on one end of their body
than the other, stretching them apart.

40

US_040_Black_holes.indd 40 16/05/2017 10:52