One of the most mysterious things in the universe is dark matter. But in the same category are black holes—massive cosmic holes that seem to absorb them all. Now, a new paper suggests that black holes and black spots may go hand in hand, thanks to parasitic black holes that live inside stars.
I know it's a lot to take in, and I thought the same thing when I was reading a passage New paper featured The Astrophysical Journal. A new paper suggests that black holes live inside stars across the universe, eating them from the inside.
It's a terrifying thesis, and one that's even more terrifying when you think about the possibility of a black hole inside our Sun that will eat away at the Sun until it eventually dies. But how much merit does this claim have? Could parasitic black holes actually be responsible for the dark matter in the universe?
Well, the universe is full of black holes. In fact, some people believe that there are tiny black holes everywhere. But what about planet-sized black holes? In general, these objects do not have enough mass to collapse into a black hole. But what if there was another way?
A step A theory developed by Stephen Hawking In the 1970s, small black holes may have formed in the first second or so after the Big Bang. Where these „primordial” black holes went is a mystery, of course, but it's always a looming possibility.
This new research suggests that black holes may end up inside neutron stars, sitting at their cores and slowly ripping the star's energy from the inside. In fact, Hawking suggests that the Sun may be engulfing one of these primordial black holes.
Of course, proving the existence of parasitic black holes is extremely difficult. But that hasn't stopped scientists from digging deeper. They propose that if such a black hole were in a star the size of a dwarf planet, it would begin consuming the Sun-like star at insane speeds.
Within a billion years, researchers believe that the star will no longer be powered by fusion, but instead by a black hole. They call this imaginary star the Hawking Star, and while it sounds a bit ironic, it's also very intriguing.
The next step to prove or disprove this hypothesis is to study the stars they believe will contain a parasitic black hole and see if they show signatures of a black hole machine.