Chapter 1: The Origins of Black Holes

Often, I receive inquiries on my Ukrainian channel regarding the origin of black holes and the mechanisms behind their formation. While I've previously offered brief explanations, I felt compelled to delve deeper into this fascinating topic.

The straightforward explanation is that black holes are born from the remnants of massive stars. For a star to ultimately transform into a black hole, it must possess a mass approximately 20 times that of our Sun. Upon its demise, the resulting black hole typically has a mass ranging from 3 to 5 solar masses!

This leads to another common question: if the star is so massive, why doesn’t it simply collapse into a black hole due to its own gravity?

The answer is relatively simple. During its lifecycle, a star is engaged in a constant battle between two opposing forces: gravity and pressure. Gravity works to compress the star’s material, while pressure acts as a counterforce. Throughout the star's existence, these forces are in equilibrium, which is why stars maintain their spherical shapes—the surface delineates the balance point where pressure and gravity counteract each other.

As a star progresses through its lifecycle, it undergoes thermonuclear reactions, converting elements like hydrogen into helium and releasing energy in the process. Once the star exhausts its nuclear fuel, such as hydrogen, gravity begins to dominate over pressure, leading to an increasing compression of the star's core. The greater the mass of the core, the stronger the gravitational force, resulting in further compression.

In smaller stars, when thermonuclear fuel is depleted, the gravitational force is countered by the repulsive forces among elementary particles, halting further compression. These stars reach a state of equilibrium and are known as white dwarfs.

However, for a massive star, when thermonuclear fuel runs out, the core's gravitational force becomes so immense that it overcomes the repulsive forces of elementary particles, leading to a gravitational collapse and the formation of a black hole. In this dramatic process, the dying star expels its outer layers in a spectacular supernova explosion, leaving behind a nebula with a black hole at its center.

The collapsing core compresses to an infinitesimally small point, nearly devoid of radius, achieving an almost infinite density, referred to as a singularity.

Here is a video that elaborates on how black holes form, exploring the intricate processes involved in their creation.

Chapter 2: The Formation Timeline of Black Holes

As we continue to explore this topic, another pressing question arises: how quickly do black holes form after a star's death?

This video provides insights into the timeframe for black hole formation and the factors that influence this process.

If you’re intrigued by space and want to see more articles like this, please subscribe to our channel and feel free to ask your questions, which I’ll address in future articles!