Black holes are massive, nearly invisible and so powerful that not even light can escape them. So what would happen if a black hole were to enter Earth? Solar System?
Experts told Live Science that it would depend on a lot of factors, including the size and distance of the black hole, but in many scenarios, it wouldn’t cause any major changes. “It’s not disruptive in and of itself.” Karina Vogel“It’s just mass — highly compressed mass, but it’s mass — it’s not a cosmic vacuum cleaner,” the postdoctoral researcher at the Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center in France told Live Science.
if Black Hole Lost among us Solar SystemThe biggest impact is GravityAnd these effects depend on the mass of the black hole.
“All the black holes that we are certain exist are much more massive than the sun.” Robert McNees“The sun’s gravity governs the behavior of objects in the solar system far into the distance, so if something more massive than the sun were to enter our neighborhood on a scale much larger than our solar system, there would be noticeable effects,” the Loyola University Chicago associate professor of physics told Live Science.
Black holes as we know them are either stellar-mass black holes (that is, black holes with masses between a few and a hundred times that of the Sun) or supermassive black holes, which have masses between 100,000 and billions of times that of the Sun and are typically found at the centers of galaxies. But there are other possibilities.
Related: Is the Earth inside a black hole?
For example, you might create something like this: Mini Black Hole Particle accelerators produce microscopic particles ranging in size from a gram to the mass of a human. “Even if they pass in front of your eyes, nothing happens because they evaporate in a fraction of a second,” Voggel says.
Then there are primordial black holes, which likely formed as a result of fluctuations in mass and density in the very early universe.
“We cannot completely rule out the possibility that primordial black holes with masses hundreds of millions of times greater exist floating in the universe. Mass of the Earth“And an object a few times the mass of Earth would not have the same dramatic gravitational effects that an astrophysical black hole would have if it entered our solar system,” McNees said.
Some astronomers believe that a hypothetical planet called Planet 9, located far away in our solar system, could be the cause of irregularities seen in the orbits of the known planets. It could be a ‘baby’ black hole It is within the mass range of a primordial black hole.
But considering that this object, if it existed, would only cause slight irregularities in the planets of our solar system, a primordial black hole far outside our solar system would not have much of an impact.
But a stellar-mass or larger black hole passing through the solar system could be catastrophic, depending on how close it is and how fast it moves. If it passes through the Oort Cloud, the farthest region of the solar system, it could disrupt comets and asteroids orbiting there, sending them hurtling toward Earth, Voggel said.
If the black hole got a little closer — say, 100 astronomical units, or just beyond the orbit of Pluto — it could change the orbits of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, “but the effect on Earth wouldn’t be that great yet,” Voggel said.
Only if the black hole crosses between the orbits of Uranus and Pluto will Earth begin to feel its effects. “If Uranus and Pluto passed really close by, they could be attracted so strongly to the black hole that they’re now orbiting the black hole,” Voggel said. And now Earth’s orbit would change.”
This could result in changes to seasons, a glacial period, or a sudden rise in temperatures that could wipe out life on Earth.
Related: How do black holes form?
If the black hole passed within the orbit of Saturn, it could move Earth outside the habitable zone where liquid water can exist, and if it passed within the orbit of Jupiter, we would begin to feel tidal effects as Earth orbits the black hole.
“If we got even closer, somewhere between Earth and Mars or whatever, the Earth’s surface would re-surface,” Voggel says, “and tides would heat the Earth, produce magma, evaporate the oceans, and make life absolutely impossible.”
But Voggel and McNees said both of these scenarios are extremely unlikely. “We worry about asteroids hitting Earth every now and then, but that’s because there are a lot of them,” McNees said. “So the chances of any individual asteroid hitting the Earth are pretty low, but the solar system is dotted with asteroids.”
But black holes are extremely rare in the universe, making them unlikely to ever pass through our solar system, much less collide with anything. “Sure, you could make a summer blockbuster movie about it,” McNees said.
