The second ever picture of a black hole was just released
Two years after producing the first-ever image of a black hole, an international team of researchers has released an updated view of the magnetic fields surrounding it — a development they say brings them one step closer to understanding the M87 galaxy’s ability to “launch energetic jets from its core.”
How are black holes made?
Most black holes are the products of dying stars – the star goes supernova, and the insides of the star get squished so dense that it becomes a black hole.
Gravity is pulling the star together (with massive pressure). Meanwhile, the fusion going on in the star is providing an outward pressure. As a star uses up its fuel, it can lose that outward pressure and begin to collapse. Depending on the mass of the star:
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The collapse may be stopped by the atoms just not being able to compress any further.
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The collapse may be stopped after all the atoms “disintegrate”, and you end up with a bunch of neutrons that there is not sufficient pressure to compress further (see: neutron star).
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The collapse may be intense enough that even neutrons a broken apart, and there is nothing left to prevent the star from collapsing “infinitely”.
That last one is what results in a black hole.
