Black Hole Facts: Trivia Questions

John Wheeler is credited with coining the term in 1967.

A stellar black hole is known as a small but deadly black hole because it is formed from the collapse of a massive star. It has a mass ranging from a few times the mass of the Sun to about 20 times the mass of the Sun. Despite its relatively small size, a stellar black hole has an incredibly strong gravitational pull, which makes it deadly. Anything that gets too close to a stellar black hole, including light, cannot escape its gravitational pull and is pulled into the black hole, making it a dangerous object in space.

Karl Schwarzschild is credited with discovering the first modern solution of general relativity that characterizes a black hole. His solution, known as the Schwarzschild metric, describes the geometry of spacetime around a non-rotating black hole. This solution provided a mathematical description of the event horizon and singularity, which are key features of black holes. Schwarzschild's work laid the foundation for further research and understanding of black holes in the field of astrophysics.

In 1916, Albert Einstein first predicted the term "black hole." This suggests that he proposed the existence of these astronomical objects or phenomena in that year.

Black holes are known to possess three independent physical properties. These properties are mass, electric charge, and angular momentum. Mass refers to the amount of matter contained within the black hole. Electric charge represents the electrical property of the black hole. Angular momentum refers to the rotational motion of the black hole. These three properties are used to describe and classify black holes in terms of their characteristics and behavior.

When a large star collapses, it continues to compress and creates a stellar black hole. A stellar black hole is formed when the core of a massive star collapses under its own gravity, causing it to become extremely dense and creating a region of spacetime with a gravitational pull so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from it. These black holes have a mass several times greater than that of our Sun and are formed from the remnants of massive stars that have exhausted their nuclear fuel.

There are three kinds of black holes: stellar black holes, which are formed from the collapse of massive stars; supermassive black holes, which are found at the centers of galaxies and can be millions or billions of times more massive than the sun; and intermediate-mass black holes, which have a mass between that of a stellar black hole and a supermassive black hole. These three types of black holes differ in terms of their mass and formation process.

The term "Dark star" was used previously to describe a black hole. This term refers to the idea that a black hole is a celestial object that emits no visible light and appears dark in space. The concept of a dark star was used before the term "black hole" was coined to describe these mysterious objects with intense gravitational pull.

In 1958, the first publication interpreted a black hole as a region of space.

In 1971, the first black hole was discovered.