Black Holes and The Schwarzschild Radius

Since the media is covering black holes more frequently, we figured many of you might like to understand more about the phenomenon. Today, we have an absolutely fascinating video explaining the principle behind the Schwarzschild Radius. The Schwarzschild radius (R_s = 2GM/c²) is defined as the size at which a spherical astronomical object has been so compressed on itself, it becomes a black hole, generating an absolutely incredible gravitational pull on everything around it, including light. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a physics geek to understand this, and we’re sure that after watching the video, you’ll get that warm, fuzzy, I-learned-something-new feeling.

[Picture source: Flickr (CC)]