Posted by
timothy
on from the like-a-well-turned-ankle dept.
notcarlos writes: "There's an article at Space.com which discusses how a supernova can trigger a sudden burst of mass "consumption" in black holes. However, when the shock waves from that explosion dissapates, the black hole goes into "remission" and takes in less mass. Nifty, eh?"
The event horizon is not the maximum extent of the black hole's gravitational field -- it's the point at which nothing can *escape* regardless of the amount of energy applied.
The distinction is that most matter isn't going to apply a lot of energy in an effort to escape -- it'll just fall in. A spaceship for example, would be pulled towards the black hole well beyond the event horizon, but before it reaches that point it could (theoretically) escape given sufficient energy. (although as you get close to the event horizon the energy required would quickly become phenominal...)
Slashdot Mirror
The event horizon is not the maximum extent of the black hole's gravitational field -- it's the point at which nothing can *escape* regardless of the amount of energy applied.
The distinction is that most matter isn't going to apply a lot of energy in an effort to escape -- it'll just fall in. A spaceship for example, would be pulled towards the black hole well beyond the event horizon, but before it reaches that point it could (theoretically) escape given sufficient energy. (although as you get close to the event horizon the energy required would quickly become phenominal...)
-JF
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