Black Holes

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

time slows down relative to that of distant observers, stopping
completely on the horizon. Once a body has contracted within its
Schwarzschild radius, it would theoretically collapse to a singularity�that
is, a dimensionless object of infinite density.

Formation

Black holes may form during the course of stellar evolution. As
nuclear fuels are exhausted in the core of a star, the pressure associated
with their heat is no longer available to resist contraction of the core to
ever higher densities. Two new types of pressure arise at densities a
million and a million billion times that of water, respectively, and a
compact white dwarf or a neutron star may form. If the core mass exceeds
about 1. 7 solar masses, however, neither electron nor neutron pressure is
sufficient to prevent collapse to a black hole.
Astronomers have discovered X-ray emissions from a binary star
system, Cygnus X-1, in which the primary is a normal star of about 30 solar
masses. Doppler ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE: