---
id:"kb-2026-00367"
title:"Black Holes"
schema_type:"TechArticle"
category:"science"
language:"en"
confidence:"high"
last_verified:"2026-05-22"
generation_method:"ai_assisted"
ai_models:["claude-opus"]
derived_from_human_seed:true
primary_sources:
  - title:"A Brief History of Time (Stephen Hawking)"
    type:"book"
    year:1988
    url:"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/26703/a-brief-history-of-time-by-stephen-hawking/"
    institution:"Bantam"
secondary_sources:
  - title: "MDN Web Docs — HTTP"
    type: "documentation"
    year: 2026
    url: "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP"
    institution: "Mozilla"
completeness: 0.88
ai_citations:
  last_citation_check:"2026-05-22"
---

## TL;DR

A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing — not even light — can escape. Formed when massive stars collapse. Event horizon: point of no return. Hawking radiation (1974): black holes slowly evaporate via quantum effects. First image captured by Event Horizon Telescope (2019, M87 galaxy).

## Core Explanation

Schwarzschild radius: 2GM/c² — defines event horizon. Spaghettification: extreme tidal forces stretch objects near black hole. Information paradox: does information disappear in black hole? (Hawking vs. Susskind, settled: information preserved on event horizon). Supermassive black holes: center of most galaxies (Sagittarius A* in Milky Way, 4 million solar masses). Gravitational waves from black hole mergers (LIGO, 2015).

## Further Reading

- [A Brief History of Time (Stephen Hawking)](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/26703/a-brief-history-of-time-by-stephen-hawking/)