How is a black hole formed in space?
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A black hole is the collapsed stellar remnant of a supernova (a nova is an entirely different phenomena caused by matter falling onto a white dwarf). Depending on how massive the star is either a white dwarf (lightest) a neutron star (heavier) or a black hole (heaviest) form when a star dies.\n\nType II Supernovas are the catastrophic, yet natural, deaths of massive stars. The star has to be 8 times more massive than the sun to cause a supernova. \n\nOnce a star has used up all of its hydrogen in the fusion processes in the core, there is no more pressure to keep the stars core from collapsing under its own weight. Eventually it gets so hot that the helium begins to fuse which again causes pressure that temporarily halts the collapse. In a star like the sun helium fusion is the end. Once the helium is spent the stars core begins collapsing again while its outer layer puffs out into space leaving a white dwarf. \n\nIn a more massive star carbon fusion, which produces neon and manganese, takes over when the helium is spent because its gravity can cause temperature and pressures great enough. When the carbon is gone the core begins collapsing again. This goes on for several stages of contraction with resulting fusion of increasingly heavier elements. \n\nFinally silicon fuse into iron and the core is the size of earth. The temperature is over 3 billion degrees. No more energy can be produced from fusion as iron is too tightly bound in its nuclei. Instead the iron core collapses with a quarter the speed of light. It shrinks in size from the size of earth to a sphere 100 kilometers across in less then one tenth of a second. This produces gravitational energy 100 times greater than the energy the sun has put out during its entire life. This energy is what blows the outer layers of the star apart. In the expanding envelope neutrons are created that slam into other nuclei to form extremely heavy isotopes. As they decay they form elements heavier than iron. \n\nIn the core, denisty is now so great that protons and electrons can no longer exist. Instead they begin to form neutrons. When that process is complete a neutron star, about 10 to 20 km in diameter, is born. \n\nIf the mass of the star is so great that not even the neutrons can keep it from coallapsing further eventually you end up with an objects so dense its escape velocity becomes greater than the speed of light and a black hole is born.
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A black hole is a star that has collapsed to the point that the empty space in the atoms no longer exists.  They are solid matter, though not matter that exists anywhere on earth.  They are called black holes because the gravitation force is so large that even light cannot excape.  The link below gives a decent explanation.
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While black holes don't explode in the classic sense of the word, as objects are drawn into them they are forced to compress beyond the ordinary forces of matter and they disintegrate into subatomic particles which give off high bursts of energy.  Typically these are X-rays and gamma rays.  In fact that is one way they have of determining the presence of Black holes.  Astronomers look for the presence of otherwise un-explained X-ray sources.
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This is a very intriguing question which I plan on researching. I have a conception of light and its physical properties and also the tremendous mysteries of a 'Black Hole'Where current day Physics is just beginning to grasp.NOTHING escapes the gravity of a 'Black Hole',not even light!Through the efforts  of dilligent astronomers, one was actually 'seen' and filmed as it passed in front of a known group of stars...outlining the very hole itself.(like passing an object in front of a bright light source and observing the outline of the object...i.e. Solar eclipse...,) knowing of there existence and how to track them now ,has given a whole new meaning to the destructive forces of a 'Black Hole' as it swallows up Stars, that Dwarf our Sun in comparrison,and the Solar System it may support.This is Truly Dark Matter on the 'Anti' side...Anti-matter...a Black Hole is given birth by a Star,such as our Sun, that is dying.As this Star,once a source of Light that supported a probable solar system, goes through its Final death throws it eventually explodes, but it just doesnt explode! as its  surface layers are  blasted outwards, its  core is smashed inwards. The center of the star  collapses in on itself. Billions upon Billions of tons of Star stuff crushed smaller and smaller until the whole Star is squeezed to a microscopic point,and from the remains of the dying Star, ....a BLACK HOLE is born....in our Galaxy,the Milky Way, a Massive Star explodes and creates another black hole every 1000 years. There is a estimated 10 Million Black Holes roaming our Glaxy today, creating Havoc sucking matter in around them... NOTHING escapes! As we know, anything of SUBSTANCE has mass, microscopic as well as Galatic.Once realized that the incredible forces hatched by a black hole having the ability to bend light and distort the Space/Time continuum which in itself is invisible to the eye, is it a possibility that this very same process is taking place at a molecular level? If manipulated correctly, is 'Cloaking' a possibility? your Question is very intriguing indeed!
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ALL STARS HAVE A GRAVITATIONAL PULL FROM THE OUTSIDE IN, WHEN A STAR LOSSES ALL ITD HYDROGEN THE GRAVITY PULLS THE STAR INWARDS(BASICALLY IT IMPLODES) WHNE IT INPLODES IT CAUSES A BLACK HOLE, WICH SUCKS IN THE STAR AND ALL LIGHT AROUND IT. THE INSIDE OF A BLACK HOLE IS CALLED THE EVENT HORIZON, NOTHING CAN EXCAPE THE EVENT HORIZON ONES ITS IN IT. NOT EVEN LIGHT! THATS WHY ITS BLACK! CAUSE ITS SUCKS UP ALL THE LIGHT. KINDA SCARY IF YOU ASK ME!
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Black holes are food for my brain and curiosity. I love the subject it is so interesting!\nBackround info: A black hole is a concentration of mass great enough that the force of gravity prevents anything from escaping from it except through quantum tunneling behavior. The gravitational field is so strong that the escape velocity near it exceeds the speed of light. This implies that nothing, not even light, can escape its gravity, hence the word "black." The term "black hole" is widespread, even though it does not refer to a hole in the usual sense, but rather a region of space from which nothing can return. Theoretically, black holes can have any size, from microscopic to near the size of the observable universe.\nBlack holes are predicted by general relativity. According to classical general relativity, neither matter nor information can flow from the interior of a black hole to an outside observer. For example, one cannot bring out any of its mass, or receive a reflection back by shining a light source such as a flashlight, or retrieve any information about the material that has entered the black hole. Quantum mechanical effects may allow matter and energy to radiate from black holes; however, it is thought that the nature of the radiation does not depend on what has fallen into the black hole in the past.\n\nThe existence of black holes in the universe is well supported by astronomical observation, particularly from studying supernovae and X-ray emissions from active galactic nuclei.\nMy answer 1)time travel when you, or in this case an object, goes fast the world goes slow. and if something, a black hole, is going, or sucking, fast enough, the world around you will eventually begin to reverse.
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The answer to that can fill a book:\n\nIn astronomy, a black hole is a region in time and space within which gravity is so strong that nothing can escape, not even electromagnetic radiation such as visible light. Black holes are thought to surround certain celestial objects. \n\nThe idea of a black hole (if not the term itself) is not new. As the intensity of the gravitational field around an object increases, so does the escape velocity. The escape velocity for a celestial mass (such as a star, planet, or moon) is the vertical speed with which an object must be hurled from the surface in order to fly forever beyond the gravitational influence of the mass. If a substantial celestial body such as a star becomes small enough in diameter, the escape velocity at the surface can theoretically exceed the velocity of light. This idea occurred to astronomers even in Isaac Newton's time. Modern astronomers believe they have observed black holes, consisting of stars that have collapsed under their own gravitation after spending their nuclear fuel. Black holes are also believed to exist at the centers of galaxies, including our own. \n\nA black hole produces bizarre effects on time and space. As seen from outside, an object falling into a black hole would approach the so-called event horizon, which is a spherical "one-way membrane" or "Rubicon" surrounding the black hole itself. If the object were a clock, it would seem to run more and more slowly as it approached the event horizon, and would never quite make it inside the black hole. From the reference frame of the falling object, nothing out of the ordinary would take place in the rate at which time passed, and the entry to the black hole would proceed apace, although the gravitational force near the event horizon might tear the falling object apart. \n\nBlack holes have been fodder for wild ideas and science-fiction stories since the concept became well known in the mid-1900s. Some scenarios are sensational to the point of madness. For example, suppose a tiny black hole, manufactured for use as a doomsday weapon, were dropped onto the surface of the earth? It would, as the story goes, proceed to devour the planet with unstoppable and phenomenal violence. \n\nOn the other hand, a worm hole is :supposedly a connection between white holes and black holes above. Do they exist? There are tons of controversy about these and no one can say for sure that they do exist.
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It creates a black hole.
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Our Galaxy has a bulge of stars at the center, wherein there may lie a giant black hole at the center. The galactic center lies in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.\n\nRegular black holes are thought to form from heavy stars (perhaps those which start off with masses more than 20 or 25 times that of the Sun, but this is still an area of active research). When these stars end their lives in a supernova explosion, their cores collapse and gravity wins out over any other force that might be able to hold the star up.\n\nEventually, the star collapses so much that it is contained within its Schwarzschild radius, or event horizon, the boundary within which light cannot escape. At this point, the black hole is extremely tiny; a black hole with the mass of the Sun would fit in a small town, while one with the mass of the Earth would fit in the palm of your hand! The material inside the Schwarzschild radius will continue to collapse indefinitely, reaching the point where our understanding of the laws of physics breaks down. But no information from inside the Schwarzschild radius can escape to the outside world.\n\nSupermassive black holes, meanwhile, form differently - perhaps from the merger of many smaller black holes early in the universe's history - and grow over the years as they suck in gas from their surroundings. The formation of these objects and their relationship to the galaxy that harbors them is still an area of active research.\n\nWe have never sent anything to one.
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General relativity (as well as most other metric theories of gravity) not only says that black holes can exist, but in fact predicts that they will be formed in nature whenever a sufficient amount of mass gets packed in a given region of space, through a process called gravitational collapse. For example, if you compressed the Sun to a radius of three kilometers, about four millionths of its present size, it would become a black hole. As the mass inside the given region of space increases, its gravity becomes stronger — or, in the language of relativity, the space around it becomes increasingly deformed. Eventually gravity gets so strong that nothing can escape, an event horizon is formed, and matter and energy must inevitably collapse into a singularity.
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Black holes do not give off any light, so they can't be seen directly.\n\nWhat we can see is the EFFECT of the black hole.  \n\nOne effect is caused by the fact that massive objects will bend light as it passes them - this is called "Gravitational Lensing".  \n\nAs a result, if we detect light from a distant star that is distorted in the specific pattern of gravitational lensing, we can deduce that there is a dark, massive object at the center of the distortion.\n\nAnother effect is produced when matter that is pulled into the black hole.  Once matter or light gets closer to a black hole than the critical distance (the "event horizon") it vanishes into the black hole and is never seen again.  But, matter NEAR the black hole that is falling into it will give off light or other radiation as it is destroyed by the black holes gravitational force.  This radiation includes bursts of X-rays, which we can detect.\n\nThe first black hole that was detected is called Cygnus X-1 (it is an X-ray source in the constellation of Cygnus, the swan).
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Like the posters above have said, the known laws of physics break down inside a black hole. Anything which passes inside the event horizon is no longer visible to anyone outside. What happens inside is just pure speculation, take your pick:\n\na. Matter, light and other trapped energy is compressed to incredible density\n\nb. Everything breaks down into its ultimately basic constituents (quarks, strings, whatever).\n\nc. Everything passes through a 'worm hole' to a 'white hole' somewhere else in the universe or in a different universe. A white hole (no one has ever observed one) is the opposite of a black hole, where everything is emitted out. It would appear like an incredible sourc of light.\n\nd. Black holes accumulate matter and energy, and ultimately the whole universe is concentrated into one single black hole. Suddenly "Let there be light", and it all explodes in another Big Bang to form a new universe. This is also called the theory of oscillating universes.
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It is precisely that the density of a black hole is beyond the scope of reality that makes a black hole what it is - a singularity. In mathematics, a singularity is a point at which an equation cannot be solved. A simple example is 1/x, which is undefined at 0. In a black hole, the laws of physics have no solution.\n\nThe atomic bomb has nothing to do with this. Radioactive material like plutonium will explode in a runaway chain reaction if sufficient mass is brought together. (An explosive mass of radioactive material is called a prompt critical mass.) This only works with highly radioactive materials and involves no compression, whereas anything will form a black hole if sufficiently compressed. Compressing matter to this level is far beyond our current capabilities, however; it takes the collapse of a massive star to make a black hole.
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Small black holes disappear in a puff of Hawking radiation, pretty rapidly.\n\nThey don't really need containment. They just evapourate into thermal radiation.  It's only the dirty great big ones that could smash the place up.  Making one of these on earth is just not feasible.  The ones that occur naturally in the universe are rather a long way off.\n\nNothing to worry about.
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By black hole and singularity we mean two different things: \nA black hole is just the area around a singularity, where the escape velocity is equal to or greater than the speed of light. The event horizon itself forms before the singularity. \n\nIf you use Schwarzchild coordinates, you'll also come up with a singularity at the event horizon, but that's only because of the coordinate system. With a different set of coordinates - Kruskal-Szekeres or Eddington-Finkelstein - the singularity at the event horizon will disappear and the math works out to singularity at r = 0.
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As much as Sci-Fi wants it to be something exotic, I'm afraid there is no "other side" to a black hole.\n\nImagine an atom of normal matter. Most of it is empty space. But it takes a great deal of pressure to compress it --- more pressure than is usually available. But if we concnetrate enough mass, the gravitational force will be strong enough that the space can be compressed. Protons (positive charge) and electrons (negative charge) will be pressed together to form neutrons (neutral charge). This happens in the core of very large stars at the end of their life. Their last stage of fusion produced iron at the core. When enough iron exist at the core, it suddenly collapses as I've described here. It then forms what is called a neutron star. If it is oriented just right with respect to the earth, it also appears as a pulsar (Internet search: pulsar +star +radio).\n\nThe neutron star is extremely dense. But there is still a force exerted by the neutrons which keeps the compression from going any further. But what if the mass was large enough to overcome that force and squeeze it even smaller. It appears that once this happens, there is nothing left to stop the compression and it continues until the object takes up no space at all, which is why it is sometimes called a singularity. It is a point in space with a huge mass and therefore extremely strong gravity.\n\nAll objects exert a gravitational pull on other objects. And therefore all distort space and bend the path that light takes. But this new object is so compressed that near it, the gravity is so strong that the path of light beams are looped back and cannot leave the object. Since no light can escape from it and anything nearby falls into it and disappears, it is called a black hole.\n\nMoving out from the black hole, we finally find a distance where light can barely escape. The line that divides where light can and cannot escape from the black hole is called the event horizon. It is not a "surface" of the black hole as there is nothing there. It is merely the distance at which the gravity drops enough that light can escape. If you could build a camera and drop it though the event horizon, nothing would change as it went through. No difference would be recorded. However the radio transmission from the camera would cease as radio is the same as light, just a different frequency. Once the camera went past the event horizon, it would no longer be able to transmit the pictures to you. The radio waves would loop back and head into the black hole. There are also some strange things that happen to time as you cross the even horizon, but you can run an Internet search to find out more.\n\nBecause it has compressed to the point of not taking up space, conventional physics expressions for matter no longer make sense in this environment. You end up with fractions where the volume or distance is in the denominator (lower half of the fraction) and therefore the fraction has an infinite value --- which doesn't make sense. So we can't really project what is going on inside. But the idea that it is a portal to other dimensions is more SciFi than science. There are some esoteric theories that guess about such things, but they are guesses. \n\nHope this helps\n\nIf you are interested in astronomy, try \nhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/\n\nChuck
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A "black hole" means that an object the size of a large star (larger than our sun) has burned up its atomic fuel so that it can no longer support the weight of its own matter and therefore collapes on itself.  This collapse of the star's own matter is so powerful that it crushes that matter (the atoms of the matter are crushed which means the electrons of those atoms are driven into the atom's nucleus, the protons and neutrons of the nucleus are crushed and even the quarks that make up the protons and neutrons are crushed) down to a point like place which is called a 'singularity'.  However, the gravitational force that that matter had associated with it still exists surrounding the singularity.  That gravitational force is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape, hence the name 'black hole'.