<p>Black holes are not lumps of matter held together by gravity, but something very different. So while Hawking radiation will eventually make them evaporate and this process gets hotter and faster the smaller they get, the end result is just that the mass once captured is re-radiated as energetic particles. Exactly what happens at the last moments of evaporation is still unknown, but it will never be a star.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-06T21:08:14.053Z
Could you please elaborate? Will the event horizon not disappear once the BH mass goes under the critical mass?
PunchyRascal
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-07T05:57:50.277Z
The hole does not stop being a hole at any critical mass: the event horizon just shrinks as the hole gets lighter.
Anders Sandberg
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-02T11:13:25.167Z
2022-04-02T11:13:25.167Z
Anders Sandberg
<p>Would a black hole after eons of losing mass due to Hawking radiation, eventually turn into a burning star again? As it’s pressure will no longer be overwhelmed by the gravity it once had and through proton decay the heavier elements would be stripped back into hydrogen?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-02T13:30:11.980Z
The formation of a gravitational singularity is an irreversible process.
Daddy Kropotkin
<star><black-hole><hawking-radiation>
Could Hawking radiation turn a black hole back into a star?
eBookworm
# Could Hawking radiation turn a black hole back into a star?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-04-02)

Would a black hole after eons of losing mass due to Hawking radiation, eventually turn into a burning star again? As it’s pressure will no longer be overwhelmed by the gravity it once had and through proton decay the heavier elements would be stripped back into hydrogen?

**Tags:** star, black-hole, hawking-radiation
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The formation of a gravitational singularity is an irreversible process.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-04-02. Score: 6

Black holes are not lumps of matter held together by gravity, but something very different. So while Hawking radiation will eventually make them evaporate and this process gets hotter and faster the smaller they get, the end result is just that the mass once captured is re-radiated as energetic particles. Exactly what happens at the last moments of evaporation is still unknown, but it will never be a star.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Could you please elaborate? Will the event horizon not disappear once the BH mass goes under the critical mass?  
> **username_2**: The hole does not stop being a hole at any critical mass: the event horizon just shrinks as the hole gets lighter.  

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