<p>There <em>is</em> evidence that both black holes and their event horizons exist.</p>

<p>The primary evidence for stellar-mass black holes arises from observations of the dynamics of binary systems. What has been found, for at least 20 binary systems, is that the optically visible star has a dark companion, that is usually more massive, and more massive than can possibly be supported as a neutron star or any other degenerate configuration ($&gt;3M_{\odot}$ and mostly $&gt;5M_{\odot}$ - see <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.6698" rel="noreferrer">Narayan &amp; McClintock (2014)</a> for an excellent, accessible review).</p>

<p>Supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies can also be "weighed" using the dynamics of gas, or in the case of our Galaxy, actually watching the stars orbiting something that must have a mass of $4.4\times10^{6}M_{\odot}$, yet is remarkably compact and emits little or no radiation.</p>

<p>The evidence for event horizons is more circumstantial, but not absent. In any case, absence of evidence would not be evidence of absence - event horizons are difficult to prove; they are small and far away, with elusive observational signatures. The lack of an event horizon could only be accommodated by inventing something even more bizarre than a black hole.</p>

<p>The most compelling argument for an event horizon is found in sources that accrete from their surroundings, either in a binary system or at the centres of galaxies (see <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/0803.0322" rel="noreferrer">Narayan &amp; McClintock 2008; read particularly section 4)</a>. In some circumstances, the accretion flow can become radiatively inefficient (dark), in which case one expects that if the accretion flow reaches a "surface", it will radiate its kinetic energy strongly as it thermalises on impact. On the other hand, a black hole event horizon can swallow such flows without trace. The prediction is, that in their low-states, transient black hole accretors will be much less luminous than their neutron star counterparts, and this is what is found (by a factor of 100).</p>

<p>Other evidence is that quiescent neutron star binaries show hot, thermal emission, presumed to be from the neutron star surface. None has been seen from the black hole binaries. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_burster" rel="noreferrer">Type I X-ray bursts</a> are seen in neutron star binaries, caused by an accumulation of matter and subsequent nuclear ignition on their surface. The black hole candidates do not show these bursts. The accretion rate onto the supermassive black hole in the centre of the Galaxy should produce thermal radiation at any "surface" that would be quite visible in the infrared part of the spectrum. No such detection has been made.</p>

<p>All of these observations are best explained if the black hole has no surface and can simply make the accreted energy "disappear" inside its event horizon.
Narayan &amp; McClintock conclude that these lines of evidence are "impervious to counterarguments that invoke strong gravity or exotic stars".</p>



CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-23T10:55:16.513Z
2014-12-26T19:22:00.033Z
2014-12-26T19:22:00.033Z
ProfRob
<p>Since this question was asked, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/reader-center/black-holes-dennis-overbye.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">we have observed the shadow of a black hole and its accretion disk</a>, and <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.11238" rel="nofollow noreferrer">it behaves the way our models predicted</a>. </p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Gr1Qr.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Gr1Qr.png" alt="From the EHT collaboration paper"></a></p>

<p>As such, it would seem that black holes and their event horizons do exist. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-31T15:31:20.763Z
2020-01-31T15:31:20.763Z
usernumber
<p>In 1939, Robert Oppenheimer and other concluded that a certain neutron stars could collapse to black holes and no known law of physics would intervene.  As far as I can tell, there is no observational data that shows that an event horizon of a black hole exists.</p>

<p>Assuming that a black hole with an event horizon exists, then there are all kinds of mathematics that explain what is observed externally, approaches the event horizon.  It can be explained what an infalling observer sees as they approach the event horizon.  However, what happens when an infalling observer passes the event horizon, the result is a mathematical absurdity, in that the observer would observe the universe outside the event horizon as beyond "the end of time."</p>

<p>It seems that passing through an event horizon is as mathematically absurd as an object with non-zero mass reaching and surpassing the speed of light, as it would require more than infinite amount of energy in the latter, or more than an infinite amount of time in former.</p>

<p>So, can an event horizon even "exist" in the first place, if "existing" means within the bounds of any moment after the big bang and before an infinite amount of time from any point within the universe.</p>

<p>It seems that the existence of black holes seems to be well accepted, however faster than than light travel does not under the current understanding of the physics of relativity.  </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-20T21:04:20.410Z
I finally realize that this is a real question. Although general relativity predicts that an outside observer will never observe the infaller reach the event horizon, it does not however predict that the infaller will observe the end of the universe before they reach the event horizon. According to general relativity, in one coordinate system, space if flowing towards the inside of the black hole. It's also possible that the laws really actually delay the timing of getting closer to the event horizon to times closer and closer to infinity. You may be thinking, how can the future affect the
Timothy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-20T21:09:48.047Z
present of where the apparent horizon is. It can't. You're just assuming that the time of being really close to the apparent horizon actually is in the near future rather than in the distant future. Maybe by the time you get that close to the apparent horizon, enough real actual time will have gone by to determine that that position in space at that time is outside the apparent horizon. I guess I thought you were jut simply assuming that since an outside observer never observes you reach the apparent horizon, you also see the end of the universe when you reach the apparent horizon. I
Timothy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-20T21:10:07.530Z
deleted my answer.
Timothy
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-23T09:17:41.083Z
Yes, in GTR it can. Related, possibly duplicate: [Would time go by infinitely fast when crossing the event horizon of a black hole?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/2524/) You're making similar erroneous assumptions here about "the end of time."
Stan Liou
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-23T11:01:56.813Z
I have addressed the point you make about observational evidence for event horizons. If you really want to to ask theoretical questions about black holes, you should separate them off and ask your question on Physics SE (if you want a much wider audience of potential responders).
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-27T13:37:57.493Z
*"However, what happens when an infalling observer passes the event horizon, the result is a mathematical absurdity, in that the observer would observe the universe outside the event horizon as beyond "the end of time.""* -- this is incorrect. Whether beyond the event horizon or not, the infalling observer would observe photons coming from the universe outside the event horizon.
Johannes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-11T20:49:36.563Z
You may be interested to see this answer: http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/21319/how-can-anything-ever-fall-into-a-black-hole-as-seen-from-an-outside-observer/21357#21357
Anixx
<black-hole><general-relativity>
Can A Black Hole Exist?
Robert Mashlan
# Can A Black Hole Exist?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-12-23)

In 1939, username_0 Oppenheimer and other concluded that a certain neutron stars could collapse to black holes and no known law of physics would intervene. As far as I can tell, there is no observational data that shows that an event horizon of a black hole exists.

Assuming that a black hole with an event horizon exists, then there are all kinds of mathematics that explain what is observed externally, approaches the event horizon. It can be explained what an infalling observer sees as they approach the event horizon. However, what happens when an infalling observer passes the event horizon, the result is a mathematical absurdity, in that the observer would observe the universe outside the event horizon as beyond "the end of time."

It seems that passing through an event horizon is as mathematically absurd as an object with non-zero mass reaching and surpassing the speed of light, as it would require more than infinite amount of energy in the latter, or more than an infinite amount of time in former.

So, can an event horizon even "exist" in the first place, if "existing" means within the bounds of any moment after the big bang and before an infinite amount of time from any point within the universe.

It seems that the existence of black holes seems to be well accepted, however faster than than light travel does not under the current understanding of the physics of relativity.

**Tags:** black-hole, general-relativity

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Yes, in GTR it can. Related, possibly duplicate: [Would time go by infinitely fast when crossing the event horizon of a black hole?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/2524/) You're making similar erroneous assumptions here about "the end of time."  
> **username_3**: I have addressed the point you make about observational evidence for event horizons. If you really want to to ask theoretical questions about black holes, you should separate them off and ask your question on Physics SE (if you want a much wider audience of potential responders).  
> **username_4**: *"However, what happens when an infalling observer passes the event horizon, the result is a mathematical absurdity, in that the observer would observe the universe outside the event horizon as beyond "the end of time.""* -- this is incorrect. Whether beyond the event horizon or not, the infalling observer would observe photons coming from the universe outside the event horizon.  
> **username_5**: You may be interested to see this answer: http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/21319/how-can-anything-ever-fall-into-a-black-hole-as-seen-from-an-outside-observer/21357#21357  
> **username_1**: I finally realize that this is a real question. Although general relativity predicts that an outside observer will never observe the infaller reach the event horizon, it does not however predict that the infaller will observe the end of the universe before they reach the event horizon. According to general relativity, in one coordinate system, space if flowing towards the inside of the black hole. It's also possible that the laws really actually delay the timing of getting closer to the event horizon to times closer and closer to infinity. You may be thinking, how can the future affect the  
> **username_1**: present of where the apparent horizon is. It can't. You're just assuming that the time of being really close to the apparent horizon actually is in the near future rather than in the distant future. Maybe by the time you get that close to the apparent horizon, enough real actual time will have gone by to determine that that position in space at that time is outside the apparent horizon. I guess I thought you were jut simply assuming that since an outside observer never observes you reach the apparent horizon, you also see the end of the universe when you reach the apparent horizon. I  
> **username_1**: deleted my answer.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-12-23. Score: 14

There *is* evidence that both black holes and their event horizons exist.

The primary evidence for stellar-mass black holes arises from observations of the dynamics of binary systems. What has been found, for at least 20 binary systems, is that the optically visible star has a dark companion, that is usually more massive, and more massive than can possibly be supported as a neutron star or any other degenerate configuration ($>3M\_{\odot}$ and mostly $>5M\_{\odot}$ - see [Narayan & McClintock (2014)](http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.6698) for an excellent, accessible review).

Supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies can also be "weighed" using the dynamics of gas, or in the case of our Galaxy, actually watching the stars orbiting something that must have a mass of $4.4\times10^{6}M\_{\odot}$, yet is remarkably compact and emits little or no radiation.

The evidence for event horizons is more circumstantial, but not absent. In any case, absence of evidence would not be evidence of absence - event horizons are difficult to prove; they are small and far away, with elusive observational signatures. The lack of an event horizon could only be accommodated by inventing something even more bizarre than a black hole.

The most compelling argument for an event horizon is found in sources that accrete from their surroundings, either in a binary system or at the centres of galaxies (see [Narayan & McClintock 2008; read particularly section 4)](http://arxiv.org/abs/0803.0322). In some circumstances, the accretion flow can become radiatively inefficient (dark), in which case one expects that if the accretion flow reaches a "surface", it will radiate its kinetic energy strongly as it thermalises on impact. On the other hand, a black hole event horizon can swallow such flows without trace. The prediction is, that in their low-states, transient black hole accretors will be much less luminous than their neutron star counterparts, and this is what is found (by a factor of 100).

Other evidence is that quiescent neutron star binaries show hot, thermal emission, presumed to be from the neutron star surface. None has been seen from the black hole binaries. [Type I X-ray bursts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_burster) are seen in neutron star binaries, caused by an accumulation of matter and subsequent nuclear ignition on their surface. The black hole candidates do not show these bursts. The accretion rate onto the supermassive black hole in the centre of the Galaxy should produce thermal radiation at any "surface" that would be quite visible in the infrared part of the spectrum. No such detection has been made.

All of these observations are best explained if the black hole has no surface and can simply make the accreted energy "disappear" inside its event horizon.
Narayan & McClintock conclude that these lines of evidence are "impervious to counterarguments that invoke strong gravity or exotic stars".


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2020-01-31. Score: 4

Since this question was asked, [we have observed the shadow of a black hole and its accretion disk](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/reader-center/black-holes-dennis-overbye.html), and [it behaves the way our models predicted](https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.11238).

[![From the EHT collaboration paper](https://i.sstatic.net/Gr1Qr.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Gr1Qr.png)

As such, it would seem that black holes and their event horizons do exist.


---

