Is there something more mysterious than space? If you ask someone to name the most unknown, most mysterious space object, I'm sure one of the most popular answers will be a black hole. Many have heard of their existence, but scientists themselves cannot explain what it is and what it is eaten with. The dictionary says: this is a region of space and time, the gravitational attraction of which is so great that even something moving at the speed of light is not able to break out of its boundaries. But a person cannot be limited to only one unique object, right? Inquisitive minds observing the Universe put forward a theory: since there are black holes that you cannot get out of, that is, their opposite is white holes that you cannot get into.
Size doesn't matter
It is much more pleasant to call space - space, but this definition will not suit scientists. In the scientific community, it is customary to characterize it as relatively empty areas of the Universe lying outside the boundaries of celestial bodies. Solid bureaucracy. The scientific world looks at the boundless interstellar space as a space-time continuum, consisting of four dimensions, one of which is temporal.
And in this continuum - in 50 galaxies for sure - there are several regions in which light disappears. He will never be able to escape from there - he will not have enough strength.
The black hole not only absorbs everything imaginable and inconceivable - it in some incredible way alters space and time itself, twisting the first and forcing the second to stop or go in the opposite direction. Of course, no one flew nearby and tried to check it: the conclusions were made by scientists on the basis of computer models.
The first hypotheses regarding black holes, their origin and nature, were made about 100 years ago by an astrophysicist from Germany, Karl Schwarzschild. His calculations were based on the theory of relativity, but long before the German researcher, scientists from different countries and eras were asking the same question as he was. So, in the 18th century, two mathematicians and astronomers at once - the Englishman John Michell and the Frenchman Pierre-Simon Laplace, independently of each other, established that there really are objects in space that do not “let go” of other bodies, whose speed is possibly equal to or less light. That is, the one that is called the second space - for example, it should be developed by a spacecraft so as not to dangle a useless load in orbit, but to break away from it and fly out of the “boundaries” of planetary attraction. For our planet, this speed is 11.2 km / sec.
Laplace calculated: if the Earth, under the condition of maintaining the existing density, increased in size, reaching 250 times the diameter of the Sun, then it would be impossible to fly away from it under any circumstances. It's good that this is impossible. Schwarzschild supplemented this theory: he suggested that the transformation of an object into a black hole has nothing to do with its size or mass separately - it depends only on their ratio. Again, using the example of a planet: if the Earth with its current density is reduced to a diameter of 1 cm, then it will also become a black hole. Fortunately, there is no such natural force that is capable of creating such a thing with the planet, as there is no corresponding technology. In addition, tiny black holes so far exist only in theory: astrophysicists have made assumptions that they once were, "born" from the Big Bang,but for billions of years they simply disappeared into space.
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Large black holes are a completely different story: not only have scientists proved their existence, they have also learned to determine their location in the universe.
Black hole theory
One of the signs of the presence of a black hole in the galaxy is the rotation of stars around an invisible center. This "invisibility" may well be a curved space that emits a kind of radiation. By the way, you can use it to calculate a hole in the “empty” part of the cosmos, not tied to some kind of star cluster.
It also happens that two black holes meet in space. It reminds me of a situation in one of the American towns, at the very dawn of the automotive industry. There were only two cars in this settlement - and yes, they collided with each other. So it is here: not being able to miss each other in limitless space is something out of the ordinary. However, this proves that a black hole is clearly not something intelligent.
Or is it? Indeed, when two black holes “meet”, no catastrophe occurs - neither an explosion, nor a super-bright flash that would allow scientists from Earth to detect this event. But no. In complete silence and darkness, two objects merge into a single whole - larger in size, more dangerous than the previous ones separately. True, it is still possible to detect the unification: at this moment, a colossal release of energy occurs, which our Sun is not able to produce even in hundreds of billions of years. The waves of this energy were “caught” by the researchers.
If scientists were able to find black holes and at least recognize their action, then they could not find an intelligible explanation of what purpose they exist for, what role they play in space. But science fiction writers did an excellent job with this, long ago assuring society that black holes are nothing more than interdimensional and intertemporal tunnels. A kind of "stargate" in one direction - it will not work out of them. And just from this we can conclude: if the assumption of science fiction writers, even for a split second, is correct that the holes are really some kind of entrance to the “corridor” between distant parts of the Universe, then somewhere there must be an exit - a white hole.
A light in the end of a tunnel
The little "distorter" of time and space is not suitable for traveling along the "corridor", since it will simply grind into dust the spacecraft and all its stuffing together with the astronauts. But the one that will allow you to pass through itself, suitable in size and mass - what if its density will be comparable to the density of water?
Under favorable conditions, the ship can theoretically pass through such a hole and not suffer. True, where he will go is another question, but who will think about such subtleties when interdimensional, and even intertemporal travel is at stake? It is unlikely that space travelers will ever be able to return back, but science fiction writers will come up with something and will definitely return them home.
Let's leave the “corridor” on the conscience of the writers, they will better understand this issue. As for the exit, the notorious white hole, this question worries not only fans of science fiction, but also quite serious scientists.
In theory, this cosmic object is the exact opposite of a black hole. Where there should be blackness, there is a bright glow. He who approached the darkness will be drawn into it and will never get out, but it is impossible to approach the light - he will push him away. One resembles a gloomy gap in space, the second - a snow-white peak. A kind of cosmic yin and yang, a one-way road.
Small explosion
Hypotheses are a good thing, even a necessary thing: amazing discoveries are then made on their basis. So it is with white holes: 100% of their existence has not yet been proven, but things are moving in this direction.
In the southern hemisphere of the sky there is a long, consisting of 38 stars, but dim and unimportant constellation Indian. It would have remained a boring chain of luminous dots if Israeli astronomers had not announced in 2006 that they had detected a white hole there.
It all started with the gamma-ray burst GRB 060614. It is located 1.6 billion light-years from our planet: exactly this amount of time ago, something happened in the Indian, from which the strongest stream of gamma radiation spread throughout the universe. It was recorded by many terrestrial observatories, and almost immediately after it, according to available data, a supernova was expected to appear. No matter how it is. There is no supernova - and then what is there?
Alon Retter and Shlomo Heller are convinced that the object is nothing more than a fantastic white hole. Somewhere beyond the familiar reality, the black hole has absorbed enough matter and matter "out of nowhere" to splash it into the field of vision of earthly astronomers. The nature of matter, if it exists, will be able to establish later - maybe the next generations of scientists will wait for it to arrive in the "mastered" part of space.
Unlike its grim reflection, the white hole does not last long. Having thrown out everything accumulated in another space, it disintegrates and disappears. Retter and Heller called this phenomenon the Small Bang. Maybe the lack of information on these objects is due precisely to their fragility - they did not have time to detect / investigate, missed the moment, and that was all - “I didn’t see it, so it doesn’t exist.” Be that as it may, the theory of white holes is ideal for describing the nature of the outbreak in the constellation of the Indian. Whether it was so in reality - who knows, maybe scientists someday will give a confident answer.