{"id":28771,"date":"2022-01-25T10:32:09","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T10:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=103954"},"modified":"2022-01-25T10:44:11","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T10:44:11","slug":"what-would-happen-if-you-fell-into-a-black-hole","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/what-would-happen-if-you-fell-into-a-black-hole\/","title":{"rendered":"What would happen if you fell into a black hole?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\"><\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By Marcus Chown\n                \t\t<\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Tuesday, 25 January 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p><hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>Black holes are one of the most mind-blowing cosmological concepts we know of, and they\u2019ve certainly been thrust into our consciousness in recent years through detections of <a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/news\/what-are-gravitational-waves\/&quot;\">gravitational waves<\/a> and the incredible <a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/m87-black-hole-photograph-how\/&quot;\">first image of a black hole<\/a>, captured in galaxy M87.<\/p>\n<p>But what would happen if you fell into a <a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/the-basics-of-black-holes-explained\/&quot;\">black hole<\/a>? What would you see? Could you survive?<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>More from Marcus Chown:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/facts-about-space-universe\/&quot;\"><em><strong>Mind-blowing facts about the Universe<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/what-is-gravity-facts-about-force\/&quot;\"><em><strong>What is gravity?<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/galaxy-light-reach-us-expansion\/&quot;\"><em><strong>Why does it take light from galaxies so long to reach us?<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><div class=\"&quot;image-handler__container\" image-handler__container--full=\"\" style=\"&quot;padding-bottom:\" calc=\"\"> <picture><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=300%2C175,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=300%2C175,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=355%2C207,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=355%2C207,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=405%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=405%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=554%2C323,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=554%2C323,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=620%2C361&quot;\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=620%2C361&quot;\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=408%2C238,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=408%2C238,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=556%2C324,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=556%2C324,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><img class=\"&quot;wp-image-32331\" align=\"\" size-full=\"\" image-handler__image=\"\" image-handler__image--full=\"\" no-wrap=\"\" js-lazyload=\"\" data-src=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/eots04_SupermassiveBlackHoleInM87-6c29775.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=620%2C361&quot;\" width=\"&quot;1236&quot;\" height=\"&quot;720&quot;\" alt=\"&quot;The\" supermassive=\"\" black=\"\" hole=\"\" in=\"\" galaxy=\"\" m87=\"\" was=\"\" observed=\"\" by=\"\" the=\"\" event=\"\" horizon=\"\" telescope=\"\" and=\"\" announced=\"\" to=\"\" world=\"\" april=\"\" credit:=\"\" eht=\"\" collaboration=\"\" title=\"&quot;The\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div><div class=\"&quot;caption-hold&quot;\"><figcaption class=\"&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;\"><span class=\"&quot;caption-copy&quot;\"><i class=\"&quot;icon-arrow\" icon-camera-circle=\"\"\/> The image of the supermassive black hole in galaxy M87 was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope and revealed to the world in April 2019. Credit: EHT Collaboration<\/span><\/figcaption><span class=\"&quot;im-image-caption&quot;\"\/><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"&quot;p4&quot;\"><strong>A matter of space and time<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"&quot;p4&quot;\">If you could indeed survive the passage through a black hole\u2019s \u2018event horizon\u2019 \u2013 the point of no return for in-falling matter and light \u2013 what you would see and what would happen to you would depend on precisely when you fell into the hole.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p4&quot;\">This is because the interiors of black holes evolve with time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">Past the event horizon, <a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/what-is-spacetime\/&quot;\">space-time<\/a> is so distorted that space becomes time and time becomes space.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">Thus, the way to the centre of the hole is not a direction in space, but a direction in time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">This explains why the point of infinite density, or \u2018singularity\u2019, at the centre is unavoidable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">You can\u2019t avoid it just as you can\u2019t avoid tomorrow.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\"&quot;What\" is=\"\" a=\"\" black=\"\" hole=\"\" interview=\"\" with=\"\" astrophysicist=\"\" janna=\"\" levin=\"\" width=\"&quot;200&quot;\" height=\"&quot;113&quot;\" src=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-9T3scEIA3Y?feature=oembed&quot;\" frameborder=\"&quot;0&quot;\" allow=\"&quot;accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">If you fell into a supermassive black hole soon after it formed, you would reach the singularity within a few hours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">The tidal forces as you approached the singularity would be so powerful and unpredictable that not only would you be torn apart, but so would space and time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">They would fragment into droplets, destroying any concept of past and future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">Things are better, however, if you fall into the hole long after it has formed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">If it\u2019s rotating, a buckle in space-time, like a ruck in a carpet, will form roughly halfway between the horizon and the singularity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">Here, material falling into the hole piles up and eventually creates a new singularity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">And, crucially, this late singularity will not be as violent.<\/p>\n<div class=\"&quot;image-handler__container\" image-handler__container--full=\"\" style=\"&quot;padding-bottom:\" calc=\"\"> <picture><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=300%2C270,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=300%2C270,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=355%2C320,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=355%2C320,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=405%2C365,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=405%2C365,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=554%2C499,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=554%2C499,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=620%2C559,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=620%2C559,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=408%2C368,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=408%2C368,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?webp=true&amp;quality=90&amp;resize=556%2C501,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/webp&quot;\"><source media=\"&quot;(min-width:\" data-srcset=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=556%2C501,\" https:=\"\" type=\"&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;\"><img class=\"&quot;wp-image-56115\" align=\"\" size-full=\"\" image-handler__image=\"\" image-handler__image--full=\"\" no-wrap=\"\" js-lazyload=\"\" data-src=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/11\/Black-hole-shadow-6aea906.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=620%2C559&quot;\" width=\"&quot;1541&quot;\" height=\"&quot;1389&quot;\" alt=\"&quot;Cone-shaped\" shadows=\"\" emanating=\"\" from=\"\" the=\"\" bright=\"\" centre=\"\" of=\"\" galaxy=\"\" ic=\"\" could=\"\" be=\"\" cast=\"\" by=\"\" dusty=\"\" ring=\"\" surrounding=\"\" supermassive=\"\" black=\"\" hole=\"\" at=\"\" its=\"\" centre.=\"\" credit:=\"\" nasa=\"\" esa=\"\" stsci=\"\" and=\"\" w.p.=\"\" maksym=\"\" title=\"&quot;Cone-shaped\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div><div class=\"&quot;caption-hold&quot;\"><figcaption class=\"&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;\"><span class=\"&quot;caption-copy&quot;\"><i class=\"&quot;icon-arrow\" icon-camera-circle=\"\"\/> Cone-shaped shadows emanating from the bright centre of galaxy IC 5063 could be cast by the dusty ring surrounding the supermassive black hole at its centre. Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI and W.P. Maksym (CfA)<\/span><\/figcaption><span class=\"&quot;im-image-caption&quot;\"\/><\/div>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">Some theorists believe it might be possible to reach the late singularity without being ripped apart.<\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p5&quot;\">It might even be possible to pass through it, some think into the outside Universe in the far-future, while others believe you might reappear in another universe entirely.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>This article originally appeared in the September 2006 issue of <\/strong><\/em><strong>BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/strong><em><strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Marcus Chown Published: Tuesday, 25 January 2022 at 12:00 am Black holes are one of the most mind-blowing cosmological concepts we know of, and they\u2019ve certainly been thrust into our consciousness in recent years through detections of gravitational waves and the incredible first image of a black hole, captured in galaxy M87. But what [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":28772,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/what-would-happen-if-you-fell-into-a-black-hole.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/what-would-happen-if-you-fell-into-a-black-hole-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/what-would-happen-if-you-fell-into-a-black-hole-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/what-would-happen-if-you-fell-into-a-black-hole-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/what-would-happen-if-you-fell-into-a-black-hole-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/what-would-happen-if-you-fell-into-a-black-hole.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/what-would-happen-if-you-fell-into-a-black-hole.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Marcus Chown Published: Tuesday, 25 January 2022 at 12:00 am Black holes are one of the most mind-blowing cosmological concepts we know of, and they\u2019ve certainly been thrust into our consciousness in recent years through detections of gravitational waves and the incredible first image of a black hole, captured in galaxy M87. But what&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/28771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}