What Is A Black Hole?

A black hole is one of the strangest objects in the universe. A vacuum cleaner and a black hole are very similar but there is only one difference, a vacuum cleaner uses suction power to pull things into it. A black hole uses gravity to pull things into it.

Why is A Black Hole Empty?

A black hole isn’t empty, it is full of material that is squashed into a very small place which causes the gravity to be very strong there.

Are There Different Types Of Black Holes?

There is two types of black hole, a Supermassive black hole and a Stellar mass black hole. A Supermassive is the bigger of the two types of black holes and a stellar-mass black hole is the smallest.

The way that a Supermassive is made is equal to a million Suns squashed into one place. The Stellar mass is made when a big star dies, causing it to explode in a very bright light. Astronomers call this explosion a supernova, the material that is left, forms a black hole.

How Far Is The Nearest Black Hole?

The nearest black hole is about 16 quadrillion kilometres from Earth, that is about 1,600 light years away.