If you are closer to a black whole than a certain distance then there is no escaping.  This is called the event horizon.  If the black hole is rotating, space and time close to the black whole are dragged with the black hole.  It is not possible to move in the opposite direction of the black holes rotation if something is near.  Tom Bolton was the first to observe a black hole by observing the surrounding.  He discovered the first black hole using a 75 inch reflector at the David Dunlap Observatory just north of Toronto.  He concluded that any material that goes into a black hole is shredded up and then emits radiation.  Black holes do have their own form of gravity.  

     I can imply that in my lifetime, it will never be possible to explore black holes in person.  No form of matter can withstand the power that black holes contain; as stated in my summary of the video, if something gets closer than a certain point to a black hole, there is no escaping and that matter will be shredded up and emitted as radiation.  

Essential Question:  If nothing can leave a black hole, how is it possible that radiation is emitted?

Source: http://www.space.com/video/  

Brody, D. (n.d.). Black Holes: Warping Space and Time [Video file]. Retrieved from Space.com 

     database. 

Nebulas

Nebulae are made up of gas left behind by stars forming or exploding.  They are said to be one of the most beautiful phenomenon in our universe.  They are commonly technicolor masses that emit beautiful spectrum's of light waves.  Their sizes range but some have been noted to be light years wide.  To wrap your brain about how large a light year is, 1 light year is 5,865,696,000,000 miles. 


My essential question: Can samples from nebulae be taken or is it humanly, scientifically, and physically impossible?

Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/23830/nebulas.htm

Nebulas. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2012, from Oracle database.

This article elaborates on how black holes were created and where they came from.  It begins by explaining how NASA's Hubble Space Telescope first discovered the black hole.  They say that the black  hole was once the core of a now disintegrated dwarf galaxy.  To understand the size of a black whole, they weigh billions of times more than the mass of our sun.  When galaxies collide with each other, black holes are created.  


I can conclude that there is much more to black holes than what people know.  They are huge masses and what occurs inside them is unknown or not proven.  I want to know if there is anymore information that can help me understand black holes in their entirety.  


Reflection question:  What makes up a black hole?

I chose the topic of astronomy because I am extremely interested and curious about almost everything relating to the universe.  I ponder for hours the possibility of infinity and what is beyond the Milky Way galaxy in which we exist in.  I am enthralled in what ideas and theories astronomers have about the universe.


My essential question is: What theories have been formulated about the universe and what information is there to back up those theories?