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Black Holes

If theories of their existence are true,
black holes are the most powerful force in the
known physical universe. Many people are familiar
with the term black hole, but few people actually
know anything about them. A black hole forms as
a result of a massive star running out of fuel to
burn (Chaisson, 193). Once the star is no longer
exerting outward force by burning off gases, it
begins to collapse under it's own intense, inward
gravity (Chaisson, 193). It is like slowly letting the
air out of a balloon. Once the star is compacted to
a certain size, while it's mass, or weight, remains
the same, it's gravity becomes so powerful that
nothing can escape it (Hawking, 87). This critical
size to weight ratio is known as the Schwarzchild
Radius (Hawking, 87). Once a black hole is
created in this way, an invisible area, or line
around it exists. If any object crosses this line, it
can no longer escape the gravitational force of the
black hole (Hawking, 87). This line is called the
event horizon (Hawking, 87). If black holes are
proven to exist, beyond theoretical physics, then
they would probably be a very common anomaly
in this universe. In 1915, Albert Einstein put forth
the first real proposition of such an anomaly in his
"Theory of Relativity" (Bunn, Black Holes FAQ).
In the 1930s, three physicists, doctors Volkoff,
Snyder and Oppenheimer, were able to prove the
validity of black holes mathematically. Since then,
black holes have become a very important and
integral part of science and the over all
understanding of the universe. It has been proven,
mathematically, that black holes have infinite,
gravity based, escape velocities and an immense
effect on light, time and even the very fabric of
space. All bodies in space have gravity. According
to Einstein's "Theory of Relativity", this is because
bodies with a large mass, or weight, actually warp
space (Chaisson, 77). For example, if a two
dimensional sheet of cloth, stretched and...