Flashcards: Black holes

This is a list of black holes (and stars considered probable candidates) organized by size (including black holes of undetermined mass); some items in this list are galaxies or star clusters that are believed to be organized around a black hole.

In general relativity, an event horizon is a boundary in spacetime beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer.

In Einstein's theory of general relativity, the Schwarzschild metric (also known as the Schwarzschild vacuum or Schwarzschild solution) is the solution to the Einstein field equations that describes the gravitational field outside a spherical mass, on the assumption that the electric charge of the mass, angular momentum of the mass, and universal cosmological constant are all zero.

A wormhole or "Einstein-Rosen Bridge" is a hypothetical topological feature that would fundamentally be a shortcut connecting two separate points in spacetime.

Gravitational collapse is the contraction of an astronomical object due to the influence of its own gravity, which tends to draw matter inward toward the center of mass.

A stellar black hole (or stellar-mass black hole) is a black hole formed by the gravitational collapse of a massive star.

The black hole information paradox is a puzzle resulting from the combination of quantum mechanics and general relativity.

An accretion disk is a structure (often a circumstellar disk) formed by diffused material in orbital motion around a massive central body.

A black star is a gravitational object composed of matter.

The Innermost stable circular orbit (often called the ISCO) is the smallest orbit in which a test particle can stably orbit a massive object in general relativity.

It was customary to represent black hole horizons via stationary solutions of field equations, i.