Today is Black Hole Friday! NASA started the day in 2019 to highlight awareness of the astronomical object with a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape it!

Why not join us as we learn about these cosmic quandaries? These mysterious objects, once limited to science fiction, are anything but that now, as science continues to advance our understanding of them and their behaviors. We’ve put together a few resources for you to get started. Share your favorite black hole fact(s) after you dive into these resources. We’ll see you on the other side of the event horizon!

GET STARTED

**5 Things: Black Holes – NASA**

NASA put this video together for the first #BlackHoleFriday in 2019. Black holes are one of the most mysterious objects in the universe. Here are five things to know!

**What is a Black Hole? – NASA**

NASA provides this article as an overview of black holes for grades 5-8. It answers questions such as how big they are, how they form, how NASA studies them, and many more.

**Black Hole Anatomy – NASA**

NASA put together this interactive glossary of black hole anatomy.

DIVE IN

**Astrophysicist Explains Black Holes in 5 Levels of Difficulty – WIRED**

Janna Levin, PhD, explains black holes to 5 different people; a child, a teen, a college student, a grad student, and an expert.

**Types of Black Holes – NASA**

Did you know there are different types of black holes? From ones that could fit into your pocket to supermassive ones, learn about each from our friends at NASA.

**Plunge Into a Black Hole: Explained – NASA Simulation**

What would it be like if you entered the event horizon of a black hole? Thankfully, NASA put its supercomputers on the case and made a simulation so we could see safely.

**Astronomers Reveal First Image of the Black Hole at the Heart of our Galaxy – NASA JPL**

Learn how astronomers captured an image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.
Dig even deeper into the science by reading the **EHT article**.

HAVE SOME FUN

**The Roman Space Observer Game**

NASA put together this retro-feeling game you can play. Capture Galaxies, Webb, Supernovae, Exoplanets, Dark Matter, and Black Holes. Can you get the hi-score?

**What is Spaghettification? – StarTalk**

NDT (Neil DeGrasse Tyson) and Kevin discuss one of the craziest terms in black hole science. It’s ZeroG’s favorite word these days!

FOR OUR YOUNGER EXPLORERS (K-4)

**What is a Black Hole? – NASA**

NASA provides this article as an overview of black holes for grades K-4. It answers questions such as how big they are, how they form, how NASA studies them, and many more.

**What is a Black Hole? – NASA Space Place**

In this episode, find out how what a black hole is, how they can form, and why they are so cool!

**NASA’s Traveler Series - NASA+**

Go along for a journey of discovery with NASA’s Traveler series designed for younger explorers. This series has eight videos and branches out into some other subjects along the way. Enjoy!

SINGULARITY SCIENCE*

According to NASA, singularity is the theoretical point at the very center of a black hole where matter is crushed to infinite density. We play on that definition for this section’s punny title. Here are some links to scientific papers, books about black holes, and even a theory about white holes.

Visit our Bookshop.org list of books on the subject. We recommend you visit your local library to pick these titles up. However, if you want to purchase any of these titles, you can support VASFA and local, independent bookstores through our bookshop.org links. Happy reading!

Dark Energy Linked to Black Holes

Observational evidence for cosmological coupling of black holes and its implications for an astrophysical source of dark energy – Duncan Farrah, Kevin S. Croker, Gregory Tarlé, Valerio Faraoni, Sara Petty, Jose Afonso, Nicolas Fernandez, Kurtis A. Nishimura, Chris Pearson, Lingyu Wang, Michael Zevin, David L Clements, Andreas Efstathiou, Evanthia Hatziminaoglou, Mark Lacy, Conor McPartland, Lura K Pitchford, Nobuyuki Sakai, Joel Weiner

DESI Dark Energy Time Evolution is Recovered by Cosmologically Coupled Black Holes – Kevin S. Croker, Gregory Tarlé, Steve P. Ahlen, Brian G. Cartwright, Duncan Farrah, Nicolas Fernandez, Rogier A. Windhorst

Black Hole Friday!