• Question: why are black holes so big

    Asked by fast1jete on 18 Sep 2025.
    • Photo: Sandra Raimundo

      Sandra Raimundo answered on 18 Sep 2025:

      Black holes are very massive but they are not always very big. Some black holes are less than 100 miles across.

    • Photo: Emily Walls

      Emily Walls answered on 18 Sep 2025:

      The size of a black hole depends on how much mass it has, the more mass it has, the larger the event horizon is. The event horizon is where the boundary is before nothing can escape it not even light.

    • Photo: Stephanie Buttigieg

      Stephanie Buttigieg answered on 19 Sep 2025:

      We actually still don’t know why the biggest black holes are so big! Astronomers are trying to figure out whether they formed that big in the first place or if they had some really intense growth spurts.

    • Photo: Ieva Jankute

      Ieva Jankute answered on 22 Sep 2025:

      Black holes can grow by “feeding” on what is next to them, be it other stars or gas. They are also good at pulling those stars closer until they can “feed” on them due to the black holes’ intense gravity. In some cases, two black holes can merge to produce an even bigger black hole!

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