What makes a black hole bigger?

Astrophysicists agree that black holes can grow by accretion of matter and by merging with other black holes. There are several hypotheses for the formation mechanisms and initial masses of the progenitors, or “seeds”, of supermassive black holes.

Will a black hole eventually fill up?

No, in fact they are a result of something being filled too much. Black holes form when a colossal amount of material gets crammed into a tiny space that’s much too small for it all to exist at once. This strong gravity pulls material into the black hole and it will consume until there is nothing left around it.

Are big black holes even bigger than we thought?

(X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford/Hlavacek-Larrondo, J. et al; Optical: NASA/STScI) View large image Some of the biggest black holes in the Universe may actually be even bigger than previously thought, according to a study using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

How does mass affect the radius of a black hole?

According to Schwarzchild Radius equation, the more mass you get, more your radius increases; one is proportional to the other. As black holes are thought to be spherical, more radius also means a bigger volume and a sphere that grows bigger and bigger.

What happens to matter when it is pulled into a black hole?

Matter is heated to millions of degrees as it is pulled toward the black hole, so it glows in X-rays. The immense gravity of black holes also distorts space itself, so it is possible to see the influence of an invisible gravitational pull on stars and other objects.

How big is a black hole compared to an asteroid?

A black hole’s apparent size is dependent on its gravitational forces, which is proportional to its mass. The mass of that big asteroid is miniscule compared to the mass of an equally sized black hole, or any black hole for that matter.