A Black hole is a theorized celestial body whose surface gravity is so strong that nothing, including light, can escape from within it's surface. Gravity is the key to ablack hole's immense power. The black hole's strong gravity keeps captured materialfrom escaping. For example, if Earth were the same mass it is now but had only one-fourth its present radius, the escape velocity of someone standing on its surface would be twice what it is now. Black holes have a power far greater than our minds can imagine. This report will go into further discussion on these massive holes in space. Now, though, astronomers have uncovered a much better candidate for a black holein our galaxy. It lies in the constellation Monoceros some three or four thousand light-years away. Monoceros was discovered in 1975, when it emitted a shower of light and x-rays. Observations soon revealed that Monoceros was a binary consistingof an orange dwarf star and a dark companion. Astronomers continue to observe theobject and other black holes like it. Despite its name, A0620-00, it is a better candidate for a black hole than Cygnus X-1.(Croswell 30-37) As I said before, gravity is the key for a black holes immense power. The black holes strong gravity keeps captured material from escaping. Of course, every moon,planet, and star has gravity. Earth has enough gravity that you have to travel fasterthan 11 kilometers per second to overcome the force of gravity. This number is Earths escape velocity. The gravity of Jupiter is even stronger: its escape velocity is 60 kilometers per second. A black hole has so much gravity that to escape one you would have to be traveling faster than the speed of light, 300,000 kilometersper second. But traveling faster than the speed of light is impossible, so once youget into a black hole you cant get out.(Levitt 83) Black holes may form during the course of stellar evoluti...
