Black holes are enigmatic yet simplistic astronomical forces at the center of science fiction and scientific discovery alike. At the center of our galaxy, a supermassive black hole with a mass equivalent to 4 million suns lies: Sagittarius A.
Though humans – at least to our knowledge – have never come into contact with a black hole, the potential encounter has long been a source of both regimented research and casual curiosity. The outcome would depend on many factors, mainly the mass, or size, of a black hole. So, what would happen to our bodies if we walked through one?
Walking Through a Black Hole
In general, the scientific community agrees that if a person were to come into close enough contact with a large black hole, its gravitational pull could cause spaghettification, essentially stretching a person into an “infinitely long and infinitely thin” noodle.
But if a small black hole were to pass through a person, it could send a fatal supersonic shockwave akin to a gunshot wound, destroying tissue and pulling interconnected cells apart as it makes its way through the body.
