Question

As far as I know, nobody has ever been eaten by a black hole, but there is compelling evidence to suggest that black holes in the universe routinely dine upon wayward stars and unsuspecting gas clouds. As a cloud approaches a black hole, it hardly ever falls straight in…. As the cloud layers spiral closer to the event horizon they heat up, from internal friction, to upwards of a million degrees — much hotter than any known star. The gas glows blue-hot as it becomes a copious source of ultraviolet and x-ray energy. What started as an isolated, invisible black hole (minding its own business) has now become an invisible black hole encircled by a gaseous speedway, ablaze with high-energy radiation.

—“Death by Black Hole,”
Neil deGrasse Tyson

Select the two pieces of evidence that support the message you identified: “Black holes are incredibly powerful cosmic forces.”

Black holes consume massive objects, including stars and gas clouds.

Black holes are isolated and invisible for most of their existence.

A black hole causes gas clouds to become hotter than any known star.

A black hole has never consumed a person, as far as we know.

Answer 1

- Black holes consume massive objects, including stars and gas clouds.
- A black hole causes gas clouds to become hotter than any known star.