• Question: Have scientists sent a probe down a black hole

    Asked by Gregs1314 to Jonny, Paul on 26 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Paul Brack

      Paul Brack answered on 26 Jun 2015:

      No, and even if we did or could, there would be no point as it would be crushed by the massive gravity. We wouldn’t learn anything from doing it.

    • Photo: Jonny Brooks-Bartlett

      Jonny Brooks-Bartlett answered on 26 Jun 2015:

      The closest black hole is about 1600 light years away (i.e. it takes 1600 years for light to travel that distance) but we’re not really sure if that’s the closest one.

      But it means that we would’ve had to have sent a probe that travelled from the Earth at the speed of light (which we can’t do) 1600 years ago (which we couldn’t do then) and it would only just have reached that black hole.

      So no we haven’t done it.

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