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[[Image:Iu8969hu.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Artist's conception of a binary system consisting of a black hole and a main sequence star.  The black hole is drawing matter from the main sequence star via an [[accretion disk]] around it, and some of this matter forms a gas jet.]]

[[Image:Iu8969hu.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Artist's conception of a binary system consisting of a black hole and a main sequence star.  The black hole is drawing matter from the main sequence star via an [[accretion disk]] around it, and some of this matter forms a gas jet.]]

'''Black holes''' are theoretical entities which cannot be directly observed and may not exist.  Suggested by the controversial [[theory of relativity]] (see [[Counterexamples to Relativity]]), black holes are postulated to be collapsed objects, usually [[stars]], which have become so [[dense]] that within a certain radius their [[escape velocity]] exceeds the [[speed of light]]. Thus, they absorb all matter and energy within that radius.  Light and matter can enter, but nothing can ever escape.

'''Black holes''' are theoretical entities which cannot be directly observed and may not exist.  Suggested by the [[theory of relativity]] (see [[Counterexamples to Relativity]]), black holes are postulated to be collapsed objects, usually [[stars]], which have so much mass that within a certain radius the effect if it's mass results in an event horizon, past which both light and matter inevitably move towards the center over time . Thus, they absorb all matter and energy within that radius.  Light and matter can enter, but nothing can escape, unless one accepts the theory of "Hawking" radiation, a result of applying quantum theory to black holes.

Black holes are increasingly favored by [[liberal]] publications, such as the science page of the [[New York Times]] and glossy magazines, as well as science fiction writers.  As with the related theoretical concept of a "[[wormhole]]",<ref>The prediction of the existence of wormholes, and its naming in 1957, predates the prediction and naming (1967) of a black hole.[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/science/14wheeler.html?pagewanted=print]</ref> it is impossible to prove that no black hole exists anywhere, and thus they fail the [[falsifiability]] requirement of science.  

Black holes are increasingly favored by [[liberal]] publications, such as the science page of the [[New York Times]] and glossy magazines, as well as science fiction writers.  As with the related theoretical concept of a "[[wormhole]]",<ref>The prediction of the existence of wormholes, and its naming in 1957, predates the prediction and naming (1967) of a black hole.[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/science/14wheeler.html?pagewanted=print]</ref> it is impossible to make direct observations of black holes, which means that observation is conducted by looking at phenomena that occurs outside of the event horizon due to the black hole.  

==History of the idea==

==History of the idea==