• Question: Can lazers cause a black hole?

    Asked by sonicthehedgehog to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 3 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      No, I don’t think so. A black hole is a region of space that is very dense. The gravity that this region causes is so strong that even light cannot escape. I don’t believe that a laser can make this happen.

    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      If you get enough lasers and put them in space, their gravity will pull them together with so much force that nuclear fusion occurs. This is therefore a star. When eventually the nuclear reactions cannot occur any longer (their fuel runs out), and as long as the star was big enough to start with, it will collapse on itself and produce a black hole.

      You would need lots and lots of lasers, and none of them would have to fire.

Comments