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Everyone seems to know about black holes. They have an absolutely massive mass, and if you go into them, time stops from an outside perspective.

When a planet gets too close to a black hole, it is eaten...

When a star gets too close to a black hole, it is eaten...

When even light gets too close to a black hole, it is eaten...

But, what happens when a black hole gets too close to a black hole?

Qmechanic
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xxmbabanexx
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  • Nothing gets "eaten" by a black hole; there is just a point (which is definitely not "inside" the black hole (such a term has no meaning)) beyond which light can't escape the pull of gravity, so our current laws of physics provide some speculation on what may happen (I say "speculation" because we shouldn't assume that our current laws are either complete or correct). If two black holes get close enough they merge: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_black_hole –  Mar 15 '13 at 21:05
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    Sorry, mh01, binary black holes aren't merged black holes. They're just two black holes orbiting each other. Instead, merged black holes is exactly what happens when - as the OP asks - a black hole is eaten by another one. One gets a larger black hole. There's a lot of difference between a binary black hole and a larger merged black hole. For example, the latter rapidly converges (by damped ringing modes) towards the only shape that a black hole with the given charges and spin may have. Two orbiting black holes may do many other things. – Luboš Motl Mar 16 '13 at 06:09

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