Question about black holes?
Why can black holes only be observed by their effects and not by direct observation through a large telescope?
Why can black holes only be observed by their effects and not by direct observation through a large telescope?
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It is not because the are black, while you can't see beyond the event horizon to the singularity, they are not black.
However as material falls into a black hole it gets so superheated it glows, so that giant cloud of particles is in the way. So a visual telescope would not be able to adequately resolve the image.
Potentially there is a black hole that has sucked up all the material around it, so there is no hot cloud around it. In that case, you would see the image, or bit data, of the material that appears to ahve slowed and stopped as it approached the event horizon.
Richard_CA
A black hole is considered a "dark matter" object. You cannot see it because it is dark; using a telescope to look directly at the black hole, even if you knew exactly where to look, would not allow you to see anything. Observing its effects is the only way to know that a black hole exists nearby.
aladdinwa
Seriously?!?
If nothing (not even light) can escape the gravitational pull of a Black Hole, then you tell me just how you can observe ANYTHING from a Black Hole.
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Anonymous
Black Holes do not emit light. To see something in space with an Optical Telescope it has to emit light.
Black Holes are dead stars whose gravity is so strong light can't escape.
Doc89891
Telescopes can only see types of light. Any kind of light inside the event horizon cannot exit that horizon, so only effects outside that horizon can be observed.