What is a black hole?

A black hole is a region in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from it. It forms when a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses under its own gravity, compressing all its mass into an incredibly small and dense point called a singularity. Surrounding this point is the event horizon, which is the boundary beyond which nothing can return. In simple terms, you can think of a black hole as a cosmic vacuum cleaner with a gravity pull so powerful that once something gets too close, it gets trapped forever. Because light cannot escape, black holes appear completely black, hence their name. Scientists study black holes to understand extreme physics, and they've even captured images of them by observing the effect they have on nearby stars and gas.

A black hole is a region in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from it. This happens when a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses under its own gravity, compressing all its mass into an incredibly small and dense point called a singularity. Surrounding this singularity is the event horizon, which is the "point of no return"—once anything crosses this boundary, it cannot get out. Because light cannot escape, black holes appear completely black, which is why they are called "black holes." They don’t actually suck things in like a vacuum but instead have such strong gravity that objects nearby can be pulled toward them. Scientists study black holes by observing how they affect nearby stars and gas, as well as the radiation emitted when matter gets heated up while spiraling into the black hole. In simple terms, a black hole is like a cosmic trap in space with gravity so powerful that once something goes in, it can never come back out.

A black hole is a region in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from it. This happens when a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses under its own gravity, squeezing all its mass into a very small, incredibly dense point called a singularity. Surrounding this point is the “event horizon,” which is the boundary beyond which nothing can return. You can think of a black hole like a cosmic vacuum cleaner with an extremely powerful gravitational pull. However, black holes don’t actually suck things in from far away; objects need to come very close for the black hole’s gravity to trap them. Because no light can escape, black holes themselves are invisible, but scientists detect them by observing how they affect nearby stars and gas. In summary, a black hole is a mysterious and fascinating object in space with gravity so strong that it creates a “point of no return” for anything that gets too close.