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The Question
(Submitted January 29, 1997)
I was wondering, what would happen if a black hole passed
THROUGH a star, lets say a B-O type star?
The Answer
This would depend on the mass of the black hole. Astrophysicists are
fairly confident that there are supermassive black holes at the centers
of many galaxies. These are millions of times more massive than the Sun,
and are bigger than most stars. One of these
supermassive black holes would tear the star apart and then accrete the gas.
(See the Imagine the Universe! discussion on
Active Galactic Nuclei for more information on these types of
massive black holes.)
We are also confident that very massive stars would end up as black holes,
with masses 5-10 times that of the Sun. Collision of such a black hole
and a normal star would be very violent, and may completely disrupt the
normal star.
More speculatively, much lighter black holes may have been created
shortly after the big bang. If a tiny black hole passed through the
star, then the star may continue without much disruption.
Best wishes,
Koji Mukai
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