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RE: Aaronnanthony@msn.com

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Posted by Mike Wilson on May 30, 2000 15:14:23 UTC

A black hole is indeed spherical, or if it is spinning, a squashed sphere shape. The reason that some say they are like a tornado is that they are refering to diagrams describing the way the black holes` gravity is bending the space-time around it. The easy way the see this is imagine that empty space is like a flat elastic sheet. Objects with gravity will bend this sheet downwards. Imagine putting a heavy bowling ball on the sheet. This could represent a star. Now if you place a small marble near the bowling ball, the marble will roll towards it. This represents the star pulling in a comet, for example. The heavier the object, the bigger the dent in the sheet. If the weight is so huge the sheet will bend down into a funnel shape (like a tornado) This is what a black hole is. In reality, the bending is happening from all directions. It is just that you cannot draw this easily.

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