What happens to space and time near a black hole?
At the edge of a black hole time should appear to slow to a halt, and if the black hole is spinning, the very fabric of space should be twisted, carrying any nearby objects around with it. Scientists can probe this hostile environment by observing nearby matter that spirals in towards the hole. The atoms in the matter emit X-ray light, whose vibrations serve as clocks that can help us precisely measure the flow of time and the distortion of space. This light will be collected by NASA’s Constellation-X mission, revealing for the first time what conditions are like at the very edge of a black hole. How do black holes create such powerful jets of energy? A black hole is the most efficient and powerful engine in the universe: Somehow, much of the matter falling towards a black hole is instead propelled outward at close to the speed of light – an effect that came as a complete surprise to astronomers. These jets of matter seem to start near the edge of a black hole, and are probably set in
