In order to find the answer to this question, it must be broken down. What are photons? How does gravity affect light? What is a black hole?
A photon is typically seen as a particle or wave representing a quantum of light or other electromagnetic radiation. A photon carries energy proportional to the radiation frequency but has zero rest mass. Photons are currently best explained by quantum mechanics. However, it is important to know that photons have both the qualities of waves and particles which is known as wave-particle duality. As Einstein once said in attempt to explain wave-particle duality, "It seems as though we must use sometimes the one theory and sometimes the other, while at times we may use either. We are faced with a new kind …show more content…
He managed to show that the speed of light within a vacuum is the same no matter the speed at which an observer travels. As a result of his research efforts, he found that space and time were interconnected into a single continuum known as space-time. As he continued to work out this theory, Einstein found that massive objects could cause distortion in space-time. Such objects would be planets, stars, or even black holes. General Relativity also states that it is not mass so much as energy that gravitates. This is why a massless thing such as a photon is affected by …show more content…
This strong gravitational pull occurs because matter has been compressed into into a tiny space. This kind of compression can take place at the end of a star's life. Black holes are invisible, however there are ways that scientists can detect them with specially designed instruments and telescopes. Because black holes pull surrounding light inwards due to their strong gravitational force, scientists cannot actually see black holes, but they can observe the effects of black holes on surrounding stars and gasses using equipment like the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (NASA 2014). Black holes have something called the event horizon which is the point inside the black hole where the gravitational pull becomes so strong that the escape velocity (the speed at which something would have to go to escape the gravitational field caused by the black hole) is equal to the speed of light. Einstein's Theory of Relativity states that no object can exceed the speed of light, thus, absolutely nothing can escape black holes once it is inside this distance from the center of the black hole. The light moving toward the event horizon “...becomes dimmer millisecond by millisecond, and in less than a second is too dark to see . . . [The light,] like the Cheshire cat, fades from view. One leaves behind only its grin, the other, only its gravitational attraction. Gravitational
A photon is typically seen as a particle or wave representing a quantum of light or other electromagnetic radiation. A photon carries energy proportional to the radiation frequency but has zero rest mass. Photons are currently best explained by quantum mechanics. However, it is important to know that photons have both the qualities of waves and particles which is known as wave-particle duality. As Einstein once said in attempt to explain wave-particle duality, "It seems as though we must use sometimes the one theory and sometimes the other, while at times we may use either. We are faced with a new kind …show more content…
He managed to show that the speed of light within a vacuum is the same no matter the speed at which an observer travels. As a result of his research efforts, he found that space and time were interconnected into a single continuum known as space-time. As he continued to work out this theory, Einstein found that massive objects could cause distortion in space-time. Such objects would be planets, stars, or even black holes. General Relativity also states that it is not mass so much as energy that gravitates. This is why a massless thing such as a photon is affected by …show more content…
This strong gravitational pull occurs because matter has been compressed into into a tiny space. This kind of compression can take place at the end of a star's life. Black holes are invisible, however there are ways that scientists can detect them with specially designed instruments and telescopes. Because black holes pull surrounding light inwards due to their strong gravitational force, scientists cannot actually see black holes, but they can observe the effects of black holes on surrounding stars and gasses using equipment like the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (NASA 2014). Black holes have something called the event horizon which is the point inside the black hole where the gravitational pull becomes so strong that the escape velocity (the speed at which something would have to go to escape the gravitational field caused by the black hole) is equal to the speed of light. Einstein's Theory of Relativity states that no object can exceed the speed of light, thus, absolutely nothing can escape black holes once it is inside this distance from the center of the black hole. The light moving toward the event horizon “...becomes dimmer millisecond by millisecond, and in less than a second is too dark to see . . . [The light,] like the Cheshire cat, fades from view. One leaves behind only its grin, the other, only its gravitational attraction. Gravitational