Exploring Light and Black Holes

[marrsal]

Can somebody tell me when was it decided that light was made of "matter"? I am supposing this assumption based on the concept of "black holes" being capable to "attract" light itself back to its core. I think we do not "see" light from black holes because wavelenght is shifted to a non-visible frequency due to strong electro/magnetic field within the black hole. So, it is not "attraped" but rather "converted". If light was capable to be "attracted" by black holes, then we would be virtually "blind" from our universe. Imagine the hundreds/thousands of black holes that beams of distant light would have to pass near by without being "attraped" or at least "deviated". So, we would be able to "see" a totally different universe from what actually "looks like".

Manuel.

 

[lzkelley]

Light is not made of "matter."
Anything massive attracts light, especially "blackholes" (being especially massive).
We do see light from black holes, just not from the inside.
E&M fields inside the black-hole have no effect on anything outside of the black hole (at least the vast majority of the time).
Most astrophysical observation is not done in the visible spectrum; light being shifted into a non-visible range is not an issue when using "technology."
"Attraped" is not a word.
Blackholes occupy a very small fraction of the universe and do not constitute a large impediment for most observations.
All light is "deviated," continuously... we still manage to "see," although some species of mole are "blind."

"Cheers"

 

[g33kski11z]

Can somebody tell me when was it decided that light was made of "matter"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light" . The photon is an elementary particle, but not technically matter because it does not have mass. I have no idea who or when that was "decided".

I am supposing this assumption based on the concept of "black holes" being capable to "attract" light itself back to its core.

I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure that is completely wrong. The concept of a black hole came from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity" .

If light was capable to be "attracted" by black holes, then we would be virtually "blind" from our universe.

Light is trapped by black holes, as is anything within it's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_horizon" is in fact used in astronomy.

 

[marrsal]

I still have my question unanswered, how can black holes trap light if it is not a particle? My hypothetical answer is that it does not trap it, it just changes its properties to be a non visible wave. By the way, thanks for the link.

Manuel.

 

[Kurdt]

A black hole warps space time so much that light can't escape. One must move away from the thought of gravity being a force acting on a particle with mass to gravity bending space itself when considering these things. I think its more a matter of semantics. Look up the definition of matter and see whether it fits.

 

[GRB 080319B]

I still have my question unanswered, how can black holes trap light if it is not a particle?

See this: https://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-70266.html

My hypothetical answer is that it does not trap it, it just changes its properties to be a non visible wave.

Nothing escapes a black hole, not even light. So in a sense it is trapped within the black hole. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_horizon" .

 

[Alan McDougal]

Light while it is not matter,and has no mass it is pure energy in the form of photons . Light is, however,is "something" and a black hole will suck up "anything" that comes too near it, including light

Regards

Alan

 

[shamrock5585]

funny when i say things like this people tear my wording apart so bad... light does not have resting mass but it does have mass... define "pure" energy...

 

[pmb_phy]

Can somebody tell me when was it decided that light was made of "matter"?

The earliest referenced of such a comment was made by Einstein in 1916 in his paper On the Foundations of the General Theory of Relativity where he wrote

We make the distinction hereafter between "gravitational field" and "matter" in this way, that we shall denote everything but the gravitational field as "matter." Our use of the word therefore includes not only matter in the ordinary sense, but the electromagnetic field as well.

Light is not made of "matter."

Before you can state what is or is not matter you first have to define it. So please state the definition of "matter" in the sense that you are using it. Perhaps you can also tell us why you prefer to define it in that way? Thanks.

Light while it is not matter,and has no mass it is pure energy in the form of photons.

See above comment and please define what you mean by pure energy please. Thanks.

Pete

 

[pmb_phy]

A black hole warps space time so much that light can't escape. One must move away from the thought of gravity being a force acting on a particle with mass to gravity bending space itself when considering these things.

Why "must" we?

Pete