Skip to main content
Astronomy

You are not logged in. Your edit will be placed in a queue until it is peer reviewed.

We welcome edits that make the post easier to understand and more valuable for readers. Because community members review edits, please try to make the post substantially better than how you found it, for example, by fixing grammar or adding additional resources and hyperlinks.

8
  • 23
    $\begingroup$ As a layman browsing casually, this is a great intuitive explanation! $\endgroup$
    – Daniel B
    Commented Jun 25, 2019 at 17:05
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ You don't even need a speck of dust. Any particle will do the same thing--even a virtual particle. And there are always virtual particles. $\endgroup$
    – Loren Pechtel
    Commented Jun 26, 2019 at 16:36
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @Loren Pechtel, the speck of dust was just an example. There does not need to be anything at all, it is not the presence of eventual matter that keep the black holes event horizons together. The event horizons do not 'know' if there is matter inside them or not: IF there is one speck of dust inside both EH's then it is obvious why they can not separate again. Therefore, dust or no dust, event horizons that overlap can never separate again. $\endgroup$
    – Mads Aggerholm
    Commented Jun 27, 2019 at 19:35
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ This does not occur to me as an intuitive explanation; the logic seems rigorous and irrefutable. Intelligible != intuitive ;-). $\endgroup$
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jun 27, 2019 at 20:57
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ This is a fantastic argument reminiscent of proofs from Set Theory. Spec "X" is a member of both sets of dark black holes. Rad, dude. $\endgroup$
    – RoboBear
    Commented Jul 3, 2019 at 17:17