{"id":55217,"date":"2024-02-16T07:37:50","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T07:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/554ff4e3-5b2b-45ba-9819-b6ef6a5247b4"},"modified":"2024-02-16T09:32:29","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T09:32:29","slug":"yes-black-holes-can-die-in-theory-this-is-how-it-it-would-happen","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/yes-black-holes-can-die-in-theory-this-is-how-it-it-would-happen\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes, black holes can die, in theory. This is how it it would happen"},"content":{"rendered":"

We can predict the fate of black holes by understanding a process called Hawking Radiation. <\/p>

By Colin Stuart\n <\/p>

Published: Friday, 16 February 2024 at 07:37 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Black holes are often thought of as indestructible cosmic vacuum cleaners, sucking up everything that strays to close, but of course we know they are more complex than that.<\/p>

But are black holes<\/a> the immortal monsters that they may be popularly considered, or will they eventually fizzle out and die?<\/p>

According to Stephen Hawking\u2019s theories, black holes won\u2019t be around forever. Instead they will slowly evaporate as they give out what is known as Hawking radiation<\/a>.<\/p>

Here\u2019s what astronomers think might happen around the event horizon, the boundary between where you can outrun the black hole\u2019s gravity<\/a> and where you can\u2019t.<\/p>

Hawking radiation explained<\/strong><\/h2>
An illustration showing what generates Hawking radiation. Credit: Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Quantum physics says that pairs of particles are constantly popping into and out of existence.<\/p>

Hawking\u2019s genius was to imagine this process unfolding at the event horizon, so that the pair appear on opposite sides of it.<\/p>

One would be free to escape, but the other would be trapped forever.<\/p>

The escaping particles could combine into particles of light that stream out from the region just outside the event horizon.<\/p>

Over time, the black hole would slowly lose this energy and disappear.<\/p>

Slowly is somewhat of an understatement, though.<\/p>

How long it takes for black holes to die<\/strong><\/h2>
\"Barred
The core of galaxy UGC 6093 shines because of its central supermassive black hole. Supermassive black holes could take 10100 years to ‘die’. Credit: ESA\/Hubble<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Black holes with a mass equal to the Sun\u2019s would take 1067<\/sup> years to evaporate completely, or ‘die’.<\/p>

That\u2019s 1 followed by 67 zeroes.<\/p>

For the supermassive black holes that we find at the centres of most galaxies<\/a>, it could take as long as 10100<\/sup> years for them to evaporate, or ‘die’.<\/p>

However, Hawking radiation is yet to be conclusively discovered and so black hole evaporation remains a theoretical process for now.<\/p>

This article originally appeared in the February 2024 issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.<\/em><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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