A Black Hole Is Not a Hole - Hardcover

DeCristofano, Carolyn Cinami

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1570917833 ISBN 13: 9781570917837

Publisher: Charlesbridge, 2012

Synopsis

Budding astronomers and scientists will love this humorous introduction to the extremely complex concept of black holes. With space facts and answers about the galaxies (ours, and others) A Black Hole is NOT a Hole takes readers on a ride that will stretch their minds around the phenomenon known as a black hole.

In lively and text, the book starts off with a thorough explanation of gravity and the role it plays in the formation of black holes. Paintings by Michael Carroll, coupled with real telescopic images, help readers visualize the facts and ideas presented in the text, such as how light bends, and what a supernova looks like.

Back matter includes a timeline which sums up important findings discussed throughout, while the glossary and index provide a quick point of reference for readers. Children and adults alike will learn a ton of spacey facts in this far-out book that’s sure to excite even the youngest of astrophiles.

About this title

About the Author:

Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano is the author of Leonardo's ABC's, as well as the acclaimed nonfiction middle grade read, A Black Hole Is Not a Hole. Aside from writing for children, Carolyn is also science educator and principal consultant with Blue Heron STEM Education. She has developed science programs with NASA and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Carolyn lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Internationally known artist Michael W. Carroll has been painting astronomical subjects for over 20 years. His art has appeared in several hundred magazines throughout the world, including Time, Smithsonian, National Geographic, and Astronomy. His paintings have aired on NOVA, COSMOS, and various TV specials, and have embellished albums and numerous books. Michael lives at the foot of the Rockies in Littleton, Colorado.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Introduction

Have you heard the news?

In outer space, mysterious entities called black holes seem up to no good.

From the headlines, you’d think black holes were beasts with endless appetites, lying in wait for the next meal. By some reports they are “runaway,” out-of-control “predators” that “feed” on galaxies, only to “belch” and “spit out” what they don’t eat. They “lurk” in the shadows, “mangling” stars and “gobbling” them up. In short, they have a nasty reputation for being monsters “gone mad.”

But you know what?

A black hole isn’t a monster. It’s not even alive. That means it can’t lurk, eat, or belch. It has no dark, de-structive desires.

Of course, you may have already figured this out. But you know what else?

A black hole is NOT a hole—at least not the kind you can dig in the groundor poke your finger through. You can’t just walk along and fall into one.A black hole isn’t a hole like that.

If a black hole is not a hole, then what in the universe is it?

1. Places with Pull
A black hole is a place in space with a powerful pull.

Way out beyond where you are right now, beyond the clouds, beyond the Moon, beyond Pluto, beyond our solar system, space goes on and on. You could travel for trillions of miles and you’d barely get to the closest star. In another few trillion miles you might pass an-other star. Space is that huge.

Way out there, trillions, quadrillions, and even more -illions of miles away, are special places called black holes. These places in space are special because of their powerful pull on other things. A black hole’s pull is the strongest pull in the entire universe.

Nothing can out-tug a black hole. No army of tow trucks, no convoy of supersized earth haulers, no fleet of giant rocket engines. Not all of them combined.

A black hole pulls in nearby dust. It pulls in nearby asteroids. It pulls in nearby stars and even nearby starlight. And no light, stars, asteroids, or dust comes out. Not ever.

How Far Out Is Way Out There?

Black holes are way out beyond where you are right now—much farther away than the edge of our solar system. To talk about the distance to a black hole, you’d need a huge number. 

How huge? Well, in your everyday life, you probably travel only a few miles (or kilometers). At most, you might go tens of miles. Longer trips might be in the hundreds or even thousands of miles. In outer space, these distances would seem smaller than baby steps. Out there, you’d need to stock up on zeroes to describe how far it is from one place to another.

From Earth to the Sun: millions of miles or kilometers
From the Sun to the next closest star: tens of trillions of miles or kilometers
From Earth to the nearest black hole: tens of quadrillions of miles or kilometers

Distance across our galaxy (Milky Way): hundreds of quadrillions of miles or kilometers

Distance across the observable universe (which may be much smaller than the whole universe): sextillions of miles or kilometers

In the universe, enormous distances separate even“close” neighbors. The Sun and Pluto, for instance, are a staggering 3,647,240,000 miles (5,869,660,000 kilometers) apart—yet that’s just a hop, skip, and jump, astronomically speaking!(Sizes and distances in this diagram are not to scale.)

About this edition

• Publisher: Charlesbridge
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1570917833
• ISBN 13: 9781570917837
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 80
• Illustrator: Carroll Michael