It sounds like something from the latest science fiction blockbuster.
But scientists in Massachusetts have revealed the terrifyingly high odds a black hole will explode in the next 10 years.
In a new paper, they say there’s a 90 per cent chance of at least one black hole exploding by 2035.
If and when it happens, telescopes positioned in space and here on Earth should be able to capture the event – which fortunately won’t be dangerous for Earthlings.
‘We’re not claiming that it’s absolutely going to happen this decade,’ said lead study author Michael Baker, an assistant professor of physics at UMass Amherst.
‘But there could be a 90 per cent chance that it does.’
Black holes act as intense sources of gravity that hoover up surrounding dust and gas, as well as planets and even other black holes.
They are often described as ‘destructive monsters’ because they tear apart stars, consuming anything that comes too close, and hold light captive.
Black holes are so massively dense that almost nothing can escape them, not even light (which is what makes them ‘black’). Pictured, AI interpretation of a ‘primordial’ black hole exploding – although how this would actually appear is not yet clear
Scientists have known since the 18th century that know that black holes exist, and we now have a good understanding of their life cycle.
An old, large star runs out of fuel, implodes in a powerful supernova and leaves behind an area of spacetime with such intense gravity that nothing can escape.
These black holes are incredibly heavy and are essentially stable, meaning they’re not thought to be in danger of exploding.
However, as legendary English physicist Stephen Hawking first explained in the 1970s, another kind of black hole (a ‘primordial black hole’ or PBH) could exist.
He theorized that PBHs are created not by the collapse of a star but from the universe’s hot, soupy primeval conditions shortly after the Big Bang.
Incredibly, PBHs could have formed less than a second after the Big Bang occurred around 13.8 billion years ago.
They are thought to be much smaller and lighter versions of the much more massive black holes that lie at the centre of most galaxies, including our own.
Although we should be able to, no one has ever directly observed a PBH exploding – but this could soon change, according to the experts.
In 1966, Soviet scientists Yakov Zeldovich and Igor Novikov first proposed the existence of primordial black holes, but the first in–depth study was conducted by Professor Stephen Hawking (pictured) in 1971. However, their existence remains hypothetical
Described as one the universe’s most mysterious objects, primordial black holes are those hypothesized to have formed shortly after the Big Bang
Crucially, Professor Hawking said black holes slowly emit radiative particles through what is now known as ‘Hawking radiation’ if they got hot enough.
According to theory, as black holes leak this radiation, they become ever lighter and hotter, emitting even more radiation in a runaway process until explosion.
Generally, the lighter a black hole is, the hotter it should be and the more particles it will emit – meaning any detectable Hawking radiation will be surely be from PBHs.
Physicists have long believed that PBHs explode at the end of their lives, but it was thought that such explosions happen only once every 100,000 years at the very most. Now, their alternative calculations suggest PBH explosions are far more common, happening every decade or less.
When a PBH does explode, by 2035 or possibly earlier, we won’t be able to see it with the naked eye, but we should be see an image captured by a space telescope or Earth telescope.
‘Since we already have the technology to observe these explosions, we should be ready,’ added Professor Baker.
What’s more, the explosion would release every kind of fundamental particle that exists, according to the team, including some that are not yet proven to exist.
This could finally answer one of humankind’s oldest questions – where did everything in existence come from?
A black hole should radiate away its mass, slowly at first but then faster and faster (depicted) as it shrinks, finally dying in a blaze of glory. The scientists say they know how to observe this ‘Hawking radiation’ with modern telescopes. PBHs are thought to be much smaller and lighter versions of the much more massive black holes that lie at the centre of most galaxies. Generally, the lighter a black hole is, the hotter it should be and the more particles it will emit – meaning the Hawking radiation will likely be coming from PBHs
The team’s research, newly published in the journal Physical Review Letters, outlines for the first time ‘a plausible scenario where current experiments could observe an exploding PBH’.
And it would ‘revolutionize physics and rewrite the history of the universe’ – although PBHs are still, as it stands, hypothetical.
‘Exploding PBHs could provide transformative insights into our universe,’ the academics conclude in their paper.
‘They would provide evidence for the existence of PBHs, evidence of Hawking radiation and give definitive information on the fundamental particles present in nature.
‘We should ensure that we are well prepared to make the most of a nearby exploding PBH in the near future.’
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