Black Holes:  Review
• Escape velocity from the surface at radius R is
• At small enough R  we have VEscape= c  (speed of light)
– That R is by definition the Schwarzschild radius
• Far from the black hole gravity is the same as for any ordinary mass M
– Stars will just orbit around it like any other mass
• Gas orbiting it collides, tries to slow down, (just like reentering satellite)
– As gas falls inward it ends up speeding up and heating up
– Gas will be moving at close to speed of light by the time it reaches RS
– Light emitted by hot gas just outside RS can still escape
– Provides a way to release about 10% of E=mc2 of energy
• Fusion releases only about 1%
• Signature of black hole:  Very high energy release, very high velocity