Could We Live On A Planet Orbiting A Black Hole?
624Could life exist near a black hole? Some scientists seem to think this might just be possible, but is it really? Join me as we explore the notion of a planet orbiting a black hole.
8. Defining A Black Hole
I'm sure the mere idea of being around a black hole and surviving there is ludicrous to some of you, and...that's not a bad reaction to the topic if we're being honest here. So before we dive into how this MIGHT work, let's talk about black holes and why they're not something ANYONE would want to orbit if it can be helped.
If you're looking for a definitive explanation or phrasing of what is a black hole, this is how NASA describes them:
"A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying."
This singularity as it is often called is a bit of a mystery in space, and for a very good reason. You see, black holes can form in large sizes, small sizes, and sometimes they don't even need a fully fledged star to form at all! Which is scary in the sense that it means black holes can form in various ways.
Plus, since no light can actually escape them, it means that they can't technically be seen by anyone. That being said, it's easy to "see their work", as the intense gravity of the Black Holes is enough to stretch objects from their "starting point" and slowly pull them to the Black Hole. This is known as spaghettification, because like a stretched piece of spaghetti, the object will get thinner and thinner until nothings exists but particles. And if you think that a Black Hole is limited in what it can absorb, you would be wrong. Very wrong in fact. If it is close enough, it'll break down a star, a planet, multiple stars and planets at once, etc. It's a question of range more than anything.
But there's a catch to that, as you won't be able to observe the spaghettification yourself. Why? Remember, no light escapes the void that is the Black Hole, so because of that, you'll see the last known position of the object that light allows you to see. It'll seem like they're stuck in place and slowly going away until they're gone. When in fact, they or it will be slowly pulled apart.
So just based on that alone you can see why Black Holes aren't just an entity in space, they're something to be feared by every living thing, and NASA is trying to map them all out in the universe as best they can so that we don't get caught up in them at any point in time.
And yet, there are some who are wondering if a planet that has humanity, or alien life, can survive orbiting a black hole...what brainiac came up with that idea?
7. The "Interstellar" Question
Well, not surprisingly, it was a movie that sparked this debate into motion, and also not surprisingly, this movie came from the mind of one of the most clever and unique filmmakers in the business today in Christopher Nolan. I of course speak of the film Interstellar.
In the movie, NASA is desperate to try and find another planet that could house life outside of our solar system. But in a twist, instead of sending people to planets that are "basic" or might just have enough to support life, they find a trio of planets that are surrounding a...you guessed it...black hole. But not just any black hole, they are orbiting a Supermassive Black Hole. Which are ones that can be the size of galaxies, or even MANY galaxies depending on the one we're talking about.
"But wait a minute," you say, "if it's just a movie, why are we taking it seriously?" Ok, remember Christopher Nolan? He doesn't just like to do movies, he likes to do movies that make you think, and with Interstellar, while it was very sci-fi in some of its concepts, it did base everything in current modern science. So much so that they had a book called "The Science of Interstellar" written by famed theoretical physicist Kip Thorne. Detailing all the things in the movie and whether they were possible or real. And more of it was real than you might expect.
Because of this, and how everything was portrayed in the movie, many people really did start to wonder if a planet orbiting a black hole could in fact survive, and life thrive there.
6. The Distance Question
Obviously though, for this example, we need to define something REALLY important, and that would be the distance between us and the black hole. And by "Us" I mean the planet that we're saying could house life.
Because as I outlined in the earlier segment, Black Holes are notorious for the amount of gravity that they have. So much so that ANYTHING that gets caught in it will be slowly ripped apart and turned into atoms...very...very...slowly.
So in truth, IF this was to work, we'd need to be sure we're on the literal outer limits of a black hole, regardless of its size. Is that possible? Technically...yes.