ELI5: what happens if you fall into a black hole
// explanation
What is a black hole?
A black hole is like a cosmic vacuum cleaner in space that sucks everything in with incredibly strong gravity [4]. Nothing, not even light, can escape once it gets too close [2].
What would happen if you fell in?
If you fell into a black hole feet-first, your feet would get pulled much harder than your head because they're closer to the black hole [4]. This would stretch you like spaghetti, which is why scientists call it "spaghettification" [3].
Would you see the universe?
As you fell in, you'd see the stars and universe outside getting brighter and brighter, squeezing into a tiny dot of light above you [5]. But you wouldn't survive long enough to enjoy the view [1].
The big mystery
Scientists still disagree about what happens to the stuff inside a black hole—whether it disappears forever or somehow stays in the universe [2].
// sources
Jun 17, 2021 ... If you fell toward a black hole, you'd die. The rest of the universe would continue on, so no, you wouldn't be able to watch what happens while ...
Einstein's general relativity says that when matter is pulled into a black hole, its information is destroyed – but quantum mechanics says that cannot happen.
May 4, 2025 ... As you fall into a black hole, you would experience spaghettification. So if you fell in with your feet first, they would stretch away, and you ...
Nov 26, 2021 ... For any object falling into a black hole, the part closer to the black hole will feel a stronger gravitational pull than the part farther away ...
Jan 25, 2025 ... If you entered a super massive black hole you will see the stars light outside quickly focusing into a single dot of light. You will not see the ...
Video by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Video by Cleo Abram
Video by AstroKobi
