Does Matter absorb space time?

[warmingwarmingwarming]

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/ ... al-mystery

You might say the accretion disk is eating matter, not the Black Hole, and that empty space lies between the disc and the hole. I suppose.

[Chris Peterson]

What images of black holes have you seen?

Just ordinary run of the mill stuff here on APOD and elsewhere .. always the image shows a Black Hole eating matter. Can you provide an image of a Black Hole NOT eating matter?

You have never seen an image of a black hole, because no such image has ever been made. What you've seen are artistic renderings of what some people think a black hole with an accretion disk might look like. But the vast majority of black holes don't have accretion disks, and are not detectable by any means other than observing the orbits of nearby stars (that is, for example, how we observe the black hole at the center of our own galaxy) or transient gravitational lensing. On APOD and other astronomical sites you may encounter accurate numerical simulations of black holes, converted to images:

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160212.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141026.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130702.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130701.html

[Chris Peterson]

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/ ... al-mystery

You might say the accretion disk is eating matter, not the Black Hole, and that empty space lies between the disc and the hole. I suppose.

No. Matter is present in the accretion disk, and disappears into the black hole where the disk meets the event horizon. No gap exists.

[warmingwarmingwarming]

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/ ... al-mystery

You might say the accretion disk is eating matter, not the Black Hole, and that empty space lies between the disc and the hole. I suppose.

No. Matter is present in the accretion disk, and disappears into the black hole where the disk meets the event horizon. No gap exists.

So, if a Black Hole is collapsed space time .. then the Black Hole must be always eating space time .. otherwise it cannot eat anything, that is, if it's a sealed unit.

[Markus Schwarz]

So, if a Black Hole is collapsed space time .. then the Black Hole must be always eating space time .. otherwise it cannot eat anything, that is, if it's a sealed unit.

A black hole is not collapsed spacetime. A black hole forms when matter, usually a star, collapses. When matter collapses its matter density increases (same amount of matter in less space). The matter density curves spacetime. For a black hole to form, the curvature must be large enough so that not even light can escape. Matter can still fall into the black hole, but not escape.

[warmingwarmingwarming]

So, if a Black Hole is collapsed space time .. then the Black Hole must be always eating space time .. otherwise it cannot eat anything, that is, if it's a sealed unit.

A black hole is not collapsed spacetime. A black hole forms when matter, usually a star, collapses. When matter collapses its matter density increases (same amount of matter in less space). The matter density curves spacetime. For a black hole to form, the curvature must be large enough so that not even light can escape. Matter can still fall into the black hole, but not escape.

So matter falls into the BH but not the spacetime that is surrounding the matter?

[Markus Schwarz]

So matter falls into the BH but not the spacetime that is surrounding the matter?

Correct! Keep in mind that matter does not have to fall into the black hole. A star, or planet could orbit a black hole in the same way as the Earth orbits the Sun or the Moon orbits the Earth.

[warmingwarmingwarming]

So matter falls into the BH but not the spacetime that is surrounding the matter?

Correct! Keep in mind that matter does not have to fall into the black hole. A star, or planet could orbit a black hole in the same way as the Earth orbits the Sun or the Moon orbits the Earth.

Pretty picky black hole.