The Science of Black Holes: Secrets of the Cosmos With Eric Coughlin

About this episode

Eric Coughlin discusses the formation and characteristics of black holes and their significance in astrophysics.

Black holes are among the most studied, but least understood cosmic phenomena for astrophysicists. These objects derive their name from the fact that nothing, including light, can escape the grasp of their immense gravitational field. College of Arts and Sciences physicist Eric Coughlin , who researches how stars are consumed by black holes, explains that black holes range in mass, with the smallest—comparable to our sun—forming from stellar evolution. Starting with hydrogen, massive stars burn through fuel in their cores through nuclear fusion. Between fusion stages, the core contracts, releasing gravitational energy that causes the star's outer layers to expand. This process progresses through increasingly heavier elements like helium and carbon until the star produces iron, at which point the fusion process halts. “The star can’t release any more energy through fusion, and all the pressure being generated from that energy release stops,” Coughlin says. “The core starts to collapse under its own self-gravity. That collapse continues until it forms a neutron star, which can ultimately collapse to a black hole.” Coughlin has examined black holes and tidal disruption events, one…

People in this episode

Guest: Eric Coughlin

Topics covered

• black holes
• astrophysics
• stellar evolution
• nuclear fusion

Keywords

• cosmic phenomena
• gravitational field
• neutron star
• tidal disruption events

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Science of Black Holes: Secrets of the Cosmos With Eric Coughlin., 'Cuse Conversations

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