It could be that black holes don't suck as badly as people seem to think.

First, I'm no physicist. Everything I know about time is based on what I've learned working in the field, and from reading about it here and there in paperback. Given that, I'll dive into the captain's chair of a hypothetical spaceship, I'll act like I know what I'm doing, and we'll go for a quick look at a black hole in space with a thought experiment, where I'll be using the theoretical supposition that a mass of gravity slows down time. 

This shouldn't take long, but you might want to bring some snacks or a lunch. Before we leave, let's consider the destination; a black hole in space.

 

attention is irresistibly drawn to the darkness, what about careless spaceships?

"If you get too close to a BLACK HOLE..."

 With a reputation of danger, it's not uncommon to hear frightening theories on how the notorious black hole would act as a massive unforgiving drain, surrounded by an impossibly swift whirlpool-- unwary travelers who might venture too closely could be swept down into blackness, never to return.

Getting sucked in (image Pixabay)

Since black holes have been theorized, there has been the idea of space-exploring astronauts becoming trapped in one of them. The question seems to be: If a spacecraft approaches a black hole in space, will they be caught in it, like a forcefield, and be unable to escape the clutch of gravity?

 
Never Fear!

 Those dangers may be real, but the idea of getting caught up in that big eddie may be quickly dispelled, if the relationship between time and gravity are considered. The two seem to be interconnected somehow.

"E= ... Eh... just Google it!"

Slowing down time

With a mass of weight comes gravity, and with gravity comes the dilation, or slowing down of time. When time is ticking at relatively different speeds around different gravitational masses, then it becomes a matter of perspective as to when anything is happening from the observer's point of view, and especially difficult to determine how long it would take to get anywhere while traveling in the universe. 

Time is Faster Here  

 Compared to where we are here, the dense mass of a faraway black hole structure is a place where time is moving so slowly, that much of the light which is being produced is simply not, here, yet.  

One way to look at it: compared to here, the light from a 'black' hole might appear black, but it's only because that light is traveling toward us so slowly that it is practically taking forever to get here-- the light just hasn't reached our eyeballs yet. 

For a second, let's become the daring volunteers who board a hypothetical spaceship, with a mission of exploration-- let's drive this sucker right in there and see what's taking so long.

 

Are We There Yet? 

Leaving Earth with lunches packed, we speed along in our approach towards the targeted black hole structure, but our clocks-- though we can't tell-- have begun to slow down. We speed up, but the more we try-- the closer we get, the slower we go. Hours pass, and we're still not even close to that black hole. We have a hypothetical full tank of fuel, so we punch it. 

 

Still not there.

Light Speed Then

After a few more weary hours of travel, the decision is made that if we are to ever reach the black hole, we will need to go into light-speed mode- the ship's top speed for this experiment. I say, "Make it so.", and somebody does, and off we go, at the speed of light. This should get us there in no time. 

The little ship speeds up considerably, but somebody notices that we should probably be getting close, considering that another sixteen or seventeen hours has now been spent cruising at 186,000 miles per second and we aren't even close to reaching the damned thing.

[inaudible f&#!ing bitching and groaning]

 Turn this thing around

 
With no more time to mess around, the only choice is to abandon the mission. Morale is low, and there's a lot of discomfort within the hypothetical crew. Their only solace is their realization that; a black hole might indeed suck, but it would take forever to get there to find out for sure. With much relief, they turn the ship around and head home. 

Pixabay.com

 Conclusion

The most dangerous part of the hypothetical trip would probably have been that the crew had wasted so much time driving around in a slower time-zone, that when if they ever returned to their own gravitational well, they would find that their home clocks, and even their calendars, might be off a bit.  

E= 'Earl Grey Tea' time, by the exhausted captain's calculations

 It could be that black holes suck terribly, but the good news is; it would take forever to get anywhere near one, so that even worrying about the dangers of black holes sucking or pulling things in is a waste of time. 

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thanks for reading, more to follow

'Capt. Piccard' art is by me, all other free images thanks to Pixabay

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