What are black holes and what is their importance in space?

Answer 1

Black holes are points in space that are massive (as in very dense) compared to their size. This is so much so that the field of gravity can even affect something as fast and light as light itself. There could be any number of ways for one to form, but the most common way is for a dying star to collapse. As it grows older and runs out of lighter elements to fuse (such as hydrogen and helium), it eventually is forced to fuse denser elements including iron. Depending on the rate at which this happens, the new intense weight of the star will cause it to collapse upon itself, spilling all of its lighter matter into space in a ferocious explosion called a 'supernova'. Eventually, it will compress itself so much that it will pass its own event horizon- a sphere of influence from which nothing in the known universe can escape.

They're so significant in modern science because, while they are allowed in Einstein's model of the universe, it raises so many more questions about the nature of reality itself. How can something draw an object into itself and tear it apart to the point that it can never be seen again? After all, matter cannot be created nor destroyed, as well as the information the object holds. If there's a point of infinite density, is there a point of absolute emission- a white hole, perhaps? What really goes on behind its black sphere of influence? All these questions and more prove that Black Holes aren't simply anomalies in reality as normal objects are, but could even be the key to solving the nature of reality and existence itself.