Black Holes: before, now and forever.
If the theory of their existence is true, black holes are the most influential force in the known physical universe. The majority of people are familiar with the term black hole, but only a small minority of people actually know anything about them. A black hole forms as a result of an immense star running out of fuel to burn. If a star is no longer exerting outward force, it begins to collapse under its own powerful inward gravity. A common analogy is the effect of letting the air out of a balloon. Once the star is compacted to a certain size, while it's mass, or weight, remains the same, it's gravity becomes so powerful that nothing can escape it (Hawking, 87). Stephen Hawking is the foremost authority on black hole phenomena and relativity. When a black hole is formed in this way, an imperceptible barrier, or line around it exists. If any object crosses this line, it can no longer escape the gravitational force of the black hole (Hawking, 87). .
In 1915, Albert Einstein set forth the first proposition of black holes in his "Theory of Relativity". In the 1934 three physicists, Volkoff, Snyder and Oppenheimer, proved the legitimacy of black holes mathematically. In recent years black holes have become an imperative part of science and the over all understanding of the universe. Mathematically, it can be proven that black holes have a significant effect on light, time, and even the very fabric of space. .
All bodies in space have a gravitational force exerted upon them. In accordance with Einstein's "Theory of Relativity", this is because bodies that are very massive actually warp space. For example, if you have a two dimensional sheet of cloth, which represents space, and a bowling ball is placed at the center, the sheet will warp downward. If you then take a golf ball and set it at the edge of the sheet and allow it to move freely, it will always be attracted toward the bowling ball.
