Black Holes Explained: From Sagittarius A* to Regular Black Holes and the Future of Black Hole Astronomy

Overview

Behold Sagittarius A star, a supermassive black hole sitting at the center of our galaxy. This object is invisible itself, but we can witness the light and the warping of spacetime around it as it pulls in matter. The video surveys why black holes fascinate physicists and outlines the three main classes of black holes with strong observational evidence: stellar mass, intermediate, and supermassive.

It then sketches the big physics conundrums—the singularity and the information paradox—and surveys radical ideas that attempt to regularize black holes, including fuzz balls, gravastars, and wormholes. The piece closes by looking toward future technologies and missions that could sharpen our view of black holes, such as space-based interferometry and the next generation of the Event Horizon Telescope.

Introduction: Sagittarius A star and black holes across the universe