Chapter 1
The boundary of no return
Chapter 2
The descent into extreme gravity
Chapter 3
The heart of the mystery
Chapter 4
The final fade and cosmic legacy
YOUR GOAL
Master of Inside a black hole
Ch 4 · The final fade and cosmic legacy
artiteacher Black Hole Evaporation
Fading out, leaking light, information taking flight!
artiteacher When two black holes merge, they send ripples through the fabric of space-time itself.
artiteacher The ultimate fate of information swallowed by a black hole remains one of physics' greatest debates.
Fun Fact
Tiny evaporators: A black hole with the mass of a mountain would evaporate in a bright flash of light, releasing immense energy.
Glossary
hawking radiation (noun)
Theoretical electromagnetic radiation emitted by a black hole due to quantum effects near the event horizon. Stephen Hawking proposed this in 1974, explaining how black holes slowly lose mass and eventually vanish.
Theoretical electromagnetic radiation emitted by a black hole due to quantum effects near the event horizon. Stephen Hawking proposed this in 1974, explaining how black holes slowly lose mass and eventually vanish.
Quiz
What is the name of the supermassive black hole located at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy?
Quiz
What is the name of the major scientific conflict regarding whether data swallowed by a black hole is lost forever?
Quiz
On what date did the LIGO detectors in the United States record gravitational waves for the first time?
Quiz
How much solar mass was converted into pure gravitational energy during the GW150914 black hole merger?
Quiz
In what year did Stephen Hawking publish his discovery that black holes can emit radiation?
Quiz
Why are supermassive black holes considered crucial to the lifecycle of their host galaxies?
Quiz
What was the name of the first gravitational wave event detected from two merging black holes?
Quiz
What is the name of the theoretical radiation that causes black holes to slowly lose mass and evaporate?