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Question 1: What is the term for a region in space where gravity is so intense that nothing, not even light, can escape?
- Black hole
- Supernova
- Nebula
- Quasar
Answer: A. Black hole
Explanation: A black hole is defined as a region in space where gravity is so intense that nothing, not even light, can escape its pull, making it invisible to traditional telescopes.
Question 2: What is the boundary surrounding a black hole beyond which the escape velocity exceeds the speed of light?
- Event horizon
- Accretion disk
- Photon sphere
- Singularity
Answer: A. Event horizon
Explanation: The event horizon is the boundary surrounding a black hole. Once anything crosses this threshold, the escape velocity required to leave exceeds the speed of light, trapping everything inside forever.
Question 3: Which physicist is the Schwarzschild radius named after?
- Isaac Newton
- Albert Einstein
- Karl Schwarzschild
- Stephen Hawking
Answer: C. Karl Schwarzschild
Explanation: The Schwarzschild radius is the distance from the center of a black hole to its event horizon, and it is named after the German physicist Karl Schwarzschild who first derived it.
Question 4: Which international collaboration is responsible for capturing the first-ever direct image of a black hole?
- NASA
- SpaceX
- Event Horizon Telescope
- ESA
Answer: C. Event Horizon Telescope
Explanation: The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is an international collaboration that uses a global network of radio telescopes to image black holes, successfully capturing the first direct image in 2019.
Question 5: In 2019, the first-ever direct image of a black hole was captured in which galaxy?
- Triangulum
- Andromeda
- Sombrero
- Messier 87
Answer: D. Messier 87
Explanation: In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration released the first-ever direct image of a black hole, which is located in the galaxy known as Messier 87, or M87.
Question 6: What is the name of the supermassive black hole located at the center of the Milky Way?
- Centaurus A
- Sagittarius A*
- Cygnus X-1
- Andromeda B
Answer: B. Sagittarius A*
Explanation: Sagittarius A* is the supermassive black hole located at the center of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, and it was imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration in 2022.
Question 7: In what year did the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration unveil the first direct image of Sagittarius A*?
- 2019
- 2022
- 2021
- 2017
Answer: B. 2022
Explanation: While the first image of a black hole (in M87) was released in 2019, the first direct image of Sagittarius A*, the black hole in our own galaxy, was unveiled in 2022.
Question 8: What is the name of the thermal radiation proposed by Stephen Hawking to be emitted by black holes?
- Hawking radiation
- Cosmic rays
- Dark energy
- Stellar wind
Answer: A. Hawking radiation
Explanation: Physicist Stephen Hawking proposed in 1974 that black holes emit thermal radiation, which is now known as Hawking radiation, suggesting that black holes can lose mass over time through this process.
Question 9: What does the theory of Hawking radiation suggest about the long-term fate of black holes?
- They grow forever
- They remain static
- They can evaporate
- They turn into stars
Answer: C. They can evaporate
Explanation: Hawking radiation suggests that black holes can lose mass over time due to the emission of thermal radiation, and they could theoretically evaporate completely given enough time in the universe.
Question 10: What physical property of a black hole is defined by the 'no-hair theorem'?
- Velocity, position, and entropy
- Temperature, density, and volume
- Mass, charge, and angular momentum
- Radiation, pressure, and luminosity
Answer: C. Mass, charge, and angular momentum
Explanation: The no-hair theorem states that all black hole solutions in general relativity can be completely characterized by only three externally observable classical parameters: mass, electric charge, and angular momentum.