![]() Again, this is not to say that the gravitational pull isn’t strong, just that the gradient isn’t too extreme. Black holes of different masses will have different gradients, so with supermassive black holes it is perfectly possible to pass the event horizon with no ill-effect. But in extreme situations the tidal forces will pull you apart, a process known as spaghettification. You’re beginning to stretch, resisting that stretch by the strength of the material making up your spacecraft. The gravitational gradient as you get closer to the black hole is increasingly steep, so the difference between the gravitational pull on the parts of the spacecraft nearer the black hole and those further away grows. The space station is literally receiving different wavelengths than you’re transmitting, but while I’m busy retuning the receivers, you’re becoming ever more worried about the tidal forces acting on the spaceship. Realistically, what can I do?Īs you get closer to the black hole, the signals you’re sending are undergoing increased gravitational redshift as the photons climb out of the gravitational well. It’s probably time to start signalling for help, so you send a radio signal to the distant space station from where I’m observing things as best I can. You haven’t even reached the weird stuff – this is fairly conventional mechanics – though already you might realise you’re in trouble. In fact, the larger the black hole, the weaker the tidal forces near its event horizon.Because the disc is flat, moving around what you’re going to think of as the equator of the black hole, you might try to get yourself ‘above’ or ‘below’ the disc, but you’ll be pulled back into alignment. ![]() So you could cross this threshold and survive without experiencing any pulling. but for a supermassive black hole, the tidal forces aren't very large at all because you cross the event horizon well before you reach the singularity. ![]() This is because the event horizon is smaller, so you are closer to the singularity (the center of a black hole). For a solar mass black hole, the tidal forces near the event horizon can be quite large, so they will kill you before you cross the event horizon. Unfortunately, this goes along with those who suspect black holes are actually some sort of portal. The sky would simply appear more and more black until you reach the event horizon.Īs a side point, many people think that it is at the event horizon where you would be ripped apart, and at the event horizon all sorts of strange things occur. What you would see is the darkness of the black hole fill your view, and as you approached the event horizon you would see stars and galaxies on the edge of your view being gravitationally lensed by the black hole. You wouldn't survive falling toward a black hole.īut hypothetically, if you could survive crossing the event horizon (the boundary beyond which not even light can escape) of a black hole, what would you see then? Contrary to popular belief, you would not see the entire future of the universe flash before you. I've made up some other names for it, such as My Own Private String Cheese Incident, "the soft-serve effect" and "AAAHHHHH AHHHH MY LEGS MY LEGS!!!". This effect of tidal stretching is sometimes boringly referred to as spaghettification. Eventually the tidal forces would become so strong that they would rip you apart. Because of the tidal forces it would feel as if you are being stretched head to toe, while your sides would feel like they are being pushed inward. These differences in forces are called tidal forces. As you got closer, your feet would feel a stronger force than your head, for example. Suppose you were falling feet first toward a black hole. Technically this is always true, but you wouldn't notice it… at least at first. As you get closer, the gravitational forces on various parts of your body would be different. But, as we've agreed, you're ignoring my advice and flying fast into this physics nightmare. ![]() The gravity of a black hole is just like the gravity of any other large mass, as long as you don't get too close. If you were falling toward a black hole, most of the time you would simply feel weightless. You've just purchased yourself a spacecraft, strapped on your favorite sonic sword, and now you're going to ride head first into the nearest black hole. Let's say you decided to ignore some of my previous advice. ![]()
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