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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.]] |
| − | A '''black hole''' is a theoretical prediction of the [[theory of relativity]]. As with the related theoretical concept of a "wormhole",<ref>The prediction of the existence of wormholes, and its name, predates the prediction and naming of a black hole.</ref> it is impossible to prove that a black hole does not exist, and thus it fails the [[falsifiability]] requirement of science. Nevertheless, the theoretical black hole has become an increasingly popular topic for magazines, the science page of the [[New York Times]], and science fiction. | + | A '''black hole''' is a theoretical prediction of the [[theory of relativity]]. 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 a black hole does not exist, and thus it fails the [[falsifiability]] requirement of science. Nevertheless, the theoretical black hole has become an increasingly popular topic for magazines, the science page of the [[New York Times]], and science fiction. |
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| | Support and interest in black holes has grown over time. [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Arthur Eddington]], the two most prominent scientists associated with the [[theory of relativity]], rejected the suggestion that black holes exist.<ref>http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/blackholes/lesson/whatisit/history.html</ref> Today black holes are frequently depicted on the covers of science magazines. | | Support and interest in black holes has grown over time. [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Arthur Eddington]], the two most prominent scientists associated with the [[theory of relativity]], rejected the suggestion that black holes exist.<ref>http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/blackholes/lesson/whatisit/history.html</ref> Today black holes are frequently depicted on the covers of science magazines. |
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| | Matter coming close to the event horizon of a small black hole undergoes a process called spaghettification. Because the hole is so dense, its gravitational pull on the near end of an object is much greater than the hole’s pull on the object’s far end. This causes the object to be stretched out in a way resembling a piece of spaghetti, and generally torn in two. | | Matter coming close to the event horizon of a small black hole undergoes a process called spaghettification. Because the hole is so dense, its gravitational pull on the near end of an object is much greater than the hole’s pull on the object’s far end. This causes the object to be stretched out in a way resembling a piece of spaghetti, and generally torn in two. |
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| | ==Scientific Understanding of Black Holes== | | ==Scientific Understanding of Black Holes== |