• Question: could a black hole bend space time so much you could travel through time?

    Asked by to Edward, Ian, Mathew, Naomi, sakshisharda on 24 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Edward Hughes

      Edward Hughes answered on 24 Jun 2014:

      Yes – that’s exactly what does happen! If you go nearer to something with strong gravity then time actually slows down for you. So if you were to take a trip around a black hole and return to Earth, you’d have travelled far into the future. Actually this effect is enough to be important for calibrating GPS satellites, because gravity is much weaker for a satellite than it is on Earth.

      If you do intend to go on a trip near a black hole though, make sure you don’t fall in! If you did then there would be no escape, and in finite time you’d get to the middle, being ripped apart by the strong gravity somewhere along the way!

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