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Teller Elementary School: Passion Pursuit
Black Holes
“It is hard to think of practical applications of the black hole. Because
practical applications are so remote, many people assume we should not be
interested. But this quest to understand the world is what defines us as
human beings.”
Yuri Milner
1.
From your knowledge of black holes, what is your opinion of the quote above? Do
you think there is any practical application for understanding black holes?
2.
There are more fascinating quotes from leading cosmologists and astronomers
(attached). Pick one or more to react to.
3.
How do scientists know that black holes exist if they cannot be seen? How do
scientists know how black holes function? Include the instruments and techniques
that scientists use.
4.
Exactly, what is a black hole? Try to answer the following questions – perhaps in a
Prezi presentation:
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5.
Define the following words or phrases. Create an interesting way to show the
definitions!
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6.
How are black holes formed?
Why are they formed?
Where do they occur?
How big are black holes? Why are they
different sizes?
How many black holes are there?
What is inside of a black hole?
Can black holes bend light rays?
What would happen if black holes collided?
Do black holes obey or disobey the laws of gravity?
What is the “life span” of a black hole?
Are there different types of black holes? How are they categorized?
Tidal effect
Neutron star
Galactic black hole
Singularity
Gamma rays
Kerr black hole
Event horizon
Apparent horizon
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Accretion disk
Ergo sphere
Quantum gravity
Quantum mechanics (or
theory)
 Schwarzschild radius
 Wormhole
 Add more of your own!
To answer the question, “Can I safely orbit a black hole?” go to
http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/encyc_mod3_q13.html and
work through the experiment / simulation. Can you safely orbit a black hole?
7.
To answer the question, “What happens if I drop a clock into a black hole? go to
http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/encyc_mod3_q15.html
and work through the experiment / simulation. What does happened?
8.
Will our sun ever become a black hole? Why or why not?
9.
Could a black hole ever envelope Earth? Why or why not?
10. To answer the question, “How do scientist find the mass of black holes? go to
http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/encyc_mod3_q14.html and
work through the experiment / simulation. How do scientists find a black hole’s
mass?
11. To see how stars become black holes, go to
http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/encyc_mod3_q12.html
and work through the experiment / simulation. How do stars become black holes?
12. To play a black hole board game, go to http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/black-holeboardgame/en/ Based upon your knowledge, create your own black hole game.
It could be a board game, card game, computer game, a Jeopardy type game, etc.
Be creative and have fun!
13. What is the relationship between string theory and black holes?
14. What would happen if someone fell into a
black hole? It appears that there are three
possible theories. See if you can find,
research, and explain each.
15. What is the connection between a black
hole’s mass and the mass of its host
galaxy’s central bulge of stars? Does that
correlation always hold true?
16. Who are the leading physicists that have devoted their careers to learning about
black holes? Pick one to study in greater depth.
17. What don’t scientists know about black holes? What is being studied right now?
18. Create your own project(s) about black holes.
Quotes
Albert Einstein (1879– 1955): “Black holes are where God divided by zero.”
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995): “The black holes of nature are the most
perfect macroscopic objects there are in the universe: the only elements in their
construction are our concepts of space and time.”
John Wheeler (1911–2008): “[The black hole] teaches us that space can be crumpled like
a piece of paper into an infinitesimal dot, that time can be extinguished like a blown-out
flame, and that the laws of physics that we regard as ‘sacred,’ as immutable, are anything
but.”
Walker Percy (1916-1990): “Why it is that of all the billions and billions of strange objects
in the Cosmos; novas, quasars, pulsars, black holes you are beyond doubt the strangest?”
Robert Coover (1932): “Black holes are the seductive dragons of the universe, outwardly
quiescent yet violent at the heart, uncanny, hostile, primeval, emitting a negative
radiance that draws all toward them, gobbling up all who come too close…these strange
galactic monsters, for whom creation is destruction, death life, chaos order.”
Stephen Hawking (1942): “Consideration of particle emission from black holes would
seem to suggest that God not only plays dice, but also sometimes throws them where
they cannot be seen.”
Eric Chaisson (1952?): “Researchers argue that it’s of utmost importance to unravel the
nature of black holes, lest we someday begin to worship them. Sounds ridiculous, but
whole segments of humankind have often revered the unknowable, venerating that
which cannot be tested experimentally. Come to think of it, many still do in twenty-firstcentury society.”
Elia Wise (1955): “The collective or star referred to as Black Hole is neither dead nor
gone. Its focus of consciousness is just temporarily redirected into other dimensional coordinates that preclude its appearance in your space/time continuum…Your scientists
think of it as being sealed off behind its own event horizon. In fact it is Human perception
that is sealed off behind their current consciousness horizon.”