Journey to the Abyss: Black Hole Exploration Quiz

Black holes are primarily defined by their extreme gravitational pull, which is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from their vicinity.

The event horizon is the boundary around a black hole from which nothing, including light, can escape. It is a defining feature of black holes.

Stellar black holes are formed from the gravitational collapse of massive stars at the end of their life cycles. Stellar black holes are created when massive stars undergo a supernova explosion, and their cores collapse under gravity's relentless pull. These black holes possess an event horizon beyond which nothing escapes, even light. Their size and mass vary, typically ranging from a few to around 20 times that of the Sun.

Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity describes gravity as the curvature of spacetime caused by massive objects. It laid the foundation for our understanding of black holes.

Stephen Hawking made significant contributions to our understanding of black holes, including the theory of Hawking radiation, which suggests that black holes can emit radiation and gradually lose mass.

At the singularity of a black hole, all its mass is concentrated into an infinitely dense point. It marks the point of no return for anything crossing a black hole's event horizon. Here, the laws of physics as we know them break down, posing a significant challenge to our understanding of the universe.

In 2019, the EHT made history by producing the first-ever image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87. This collaborative effort has opened new horizons in astrophysics and offers profound insights into the extreme environments around black holes.

Primordial black holes are hypothetical black holes that could have formed from density fluctuations in the early universe, not from the collapse of massive stars.

White dwarf black holes are not a recognized type of black hole. Stellar, supermassive, and intermediate black holes are the primary categories.

Supermassive black holes are believed to exist at the centers of most galaxies, including our Milky Way.

Accretion is the process by which a black hole gathers and consumes matter from its surroundings, often creating a bright, luminous accretion disk.

The event horizon marks the boundary beyond which nothing can escape a black hole's gravitational pull, making it an integral part of a black hole's definition.

Gravitational lensing is the phenomenon where a black hole's gravity bends and distorts the light from objects behind it, making them appear distorted or magnified.

Black holes do not emit visible light. They are typically observed indirectly through their effects on nearby matter or by detecting other forms of radiation, such as X-rays and radio waves.

The black hole located at the center of the galaxy M87 is known as M87*, and it was the first black hole to be directly imaged by scientists using the Event Horizon Telescope.