Black holes are one of the most interesting and mysterious objects in our universe.

They were first predicted to exist based off of the general theory of relativity, put forth by Einstein.

Since then, astronomers and other scientists have spent countless hours looking for them, observing their effects, and even getting pictures of them.

The problem with black holes is that in some situations, they don’t make sense.

For example, the black hole information paradox, which says that a portion of the information from matter or energy entering a black hole is lost forever, despite the fact that this should be impossible.

Jean-Pierre Luminet, a French astrophysicist explains this:

“Hawking then pointed to a paradox. If a black hole can evaporate, a portion of the information it contains is lost forever. The information contained in thermal radiation emitted by a black hole is degraded; it does not recapitulate information about matter previously swallowed by the black hole. The irretrievable loss of information conflicts with one of the basic postulates of quantum mechanics. According to the Schrödinger equation, physical systems that change over time cannot create or destroy information, a property known as unitarity.”

With this issue in mind, many scientists work on finding a way to make what is observed fit with our best theories. One theory that has been around since 2002 is that black holes don’t actually exist.

Instead, what we have previously labeled black holes are actually gravastars.

Gravastars, the theory goes, are formed at a point during the collapse of large stars. An intense amount of gravity transfers its matter into a new state.

The state would be similar to Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC).

As this collapse occurs, the pressure exerted outward prevents it from creating a singularity. This creates an area where warped spacetime is surrounded by a cold, dark layer that is virtually indestructible.

Pawel O. Mazur, one of the scientists who proposed this idea, explained:

“Since this new form of matter is very durable, but somewhat flexible, like a bubble, anything that became trapped by its intense gravity and smashed into it would be obliterated and then assimilated into the shell of the Gravastar.”

The area that is now known as the event horizon is explained by gravitational redshift, which is explained by Joao Luis Rosa, a professor of physics at the University of Gdansk:

“This shadow is not caused by the trapping of light in the event horizon, but by a slightly different phenomenon called the ‘gravitational redshift,’ causing light to lose energy when it moves through a region with a strong gravitational field. Indeed, when the light emitted from regions close to these alternative objects reach[es] our telescopes, most of its energy would have been lost to the gravitational field, causing the appearance of this shadow.”

This idea has gained some support as a viable explanation for what is seen in the universe.

Another option is that both gravastars and black holes exist and just have a similar appearance to the instruments that we are currently using.

As with most things in science, additional research and study is needed.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.