The Event Horizon
If you
calculate the size of an object whose escape velocity is the speed of light, you get the “Schwarzschild radius”, which defines the “event horizon”. This is the formal size of a black hole (even though there is nothing at that location). It is given by Rs=3km(M*/Msun). It is
the horizon over which you can see no more
events. Outside that at 1.5 Rs photons would
orbit the hole (the photon sphere).
Far from the
hole, the gravity is the same as it would be
if the star were still there (so no “vacuum
cleaner” effect). If the Sun collapsed to a
BH, the Earth’s orbit would be unaffected.
The trick is that you can approach VERY
close to the full mass since the object
got so dense.
