Black Holes and Our Universe

Black Holes and Our Universe

Our universe is theorized to have begun with a bang that sent pieces of it outward in all directions. As yet, astronomers have not detected enough mass to reverse this expansion. The possibility remains, however, that the missing mass may be locked up in undetectable black holes that are more prevalent than anyone realizes.

If enough black holes exist to reverse the universe's expansion, what then? Will all of the stars, and galaxies, and other matter in the universe collapse inward like a star that has exhausted its nuclear fuels? Will one large black hole be created, within which the universe will shrink to the ultimate singularity?

Extrapolating backward more than 10 billion years, some cosmologists trace our present universe to a singularity. Is a singularity both the beginning and end of our universe? Is our universe but a phase between singularities?

These questions may be more academic than we realize. Scientists say that, if the universe itself is closed and nothing can escape from it, we may already be in a black hole. Eg: Scientists say that, if the universe itself is closed and nothing can escape.