Earlier this week, a second grader asked me what would happen if an astronaut fell into a black hole. "Well, what do you think might happen?" I responded back. Another anxious second grader waved his hand high. "You would get stretched out like a noodle!" he said. Very good! These second graders know more about black holes than I thought! If an astronaut were to fall into a black hole, the gravity at the persons feet would be stronger than at their head, effectively stretching their bodies as thin as spaghetti. So guess what astronomers call that effect…. Spaghettification! No joke!
