AstroNOMy
March 2015
by aziz hamza
Let’s Talk About Black Holes
Article inspiration
HubbleSite
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What is Relativity?
SO if we’re going to learn about black holes, first we must have a ‘general’ understanding of the theory of relativity. Einstein’s theory of relativity is basically an understanding of how gravity manipulates objects in the universe. According to Einstein, the force of gravity between two objects exists because of their warping or curvature of spacetime. Spacetime is a mathematical model which interweaves space and time in which time is considered a “fourth dimension.” Its easier to understand if you think of spacetime as a blanket on which all objects that have mass in the universe are rested, and because these objects all sit on the blanket, they all affect its curvature, and so they all are connected by the force of gravity.
This means that every object in the universe is attracted to everything else, even your shoe to one of Jupiter’s moons! Objects in the universe with a larger mass create a larger curvature in spacetime, which is why they are more attractive (in the physical science way).
FOR REFERENCE: A star is defined as a star if it undergoes the process of nuclear fusion. Nuclear Fusion is a reaction that produces immense amounts of nuclear energy which takes place at the core of stars. Elements beginning at the lightest, Hydrogen, are heated up so much that they gain kinetic energy high enough for their nuclei to crash into each other and combine into heavier elements such as Helium and Carbon, which then fuse into even heavier elements. All of this leads to large amounts of nuclear energy spouting out which goes into heating the star.
image source
Space.com
Science4all.com