Physics Questions

1. What is the formation and size of black holes?

"In science, the answers are not that it cannot be certain or that it will be certain, but that it cannot be certain under certain conditions. For example, under certain conditions in the early universe, black holes called primordial black holes, which are very different from black holes formed by star collapse, can form. " Dr Gizem Şengör, Boğaziçi University

2. Are stars only good for lighting?

"Stars are very big, hot balls of gas. The core at the centre of the star is very hot. The heat from the core reaches the surface of the star, from where it radiates out into the environment as heat, light and other forms of energy that we cannot see with our eyes. The Sun, our source of both heat and light, is also a star. Moreover, stars have such an important function in the universe. They are like a kind of factory. You can think of the elements as the components that make up everything we see around us. Almost all of them are formed inside stars. In other words, most of the matter that makes up us and the things we see around us was once inside a star."  Alp Akoğlu, Director of the Space Awareness Education Support Office 

3. How do stars hang in space?

"There is gravity everywhere in the universe. You cannot escape gravity. The gravitational attraction also exists in space. The Earth revolves around the Sun because there is gravitational attraction. But is there something that the Solar System revolves around? Yes, because everything revolves around the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. In other words, nothing is suspended, it is rotating under the gravitational force of the black hole. But we cannot perceive these events very much because they are very slow events."  Prof. Dr. Burçin Ünlü, Boğaziçi University