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Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Stars & Stellar Evolution

Black hole

Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples

/ˌblæk ˈhoʊl/nounCore term

In astronomy & space, black hole means: A region of space where matter is packed so tightly that gravity stops anything, even light, from escaping. Many form when very massive stars collapse.

In Turkish: kara delik

How it is used

Astronomers detect black holes through their effect on nearby stars and gas, through X-rays from hot material around them and through gravitational waves. Main types are stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. In everyday English, 'a black hole' is also something that swallows money or time.

Example sentences

  1. In 2019 astronomers released the first image of the shadow of a black hole.

  2. When the two black holes merged, they sent gravitational waves across the universe.

Common collocations

  • stellar-mass black hole
  • supermassive black hole
  • fall into a black hole
  • black hole merger
  • the shadow of a black hole
  • event horizonThe boundary around a black hole beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape. Anything that crosses it can never come back out.
  • supermassive black holeA black hole with the mass of millions or billions of Suns. Almost every large galaxy, including the Milky Way, has one at its centre.
  • neutron starThe extremely dense core left after a massive star explodes as a supernova. It packs more mass than the Sun into a ball only about 20 kilometres across.
  • gravitational waveA ripple in space-time caused by massive objects accelerating, such as two black holes spiralling into each other. Einstein predicted them in 1916.
  • supernovaA huge stellar explosion that can briefly shine as brightly as a whole galaxy. It happens when a massive star collapses or when a white dwarf gains too much mass.

More terms: Stars & Stellar Evolution

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