<p>Well, you're partially correct here. A black hole traps everything <em>inside its event horizon</em>. Outside of the event horizon, matter (and energy) can still escape from its gravitational pull. This is due to the fact that the escape velocity of a black hole beyond its event horizon becomes greater than the speed of light itself.</p>

<p>So, the light you see around a black hole is actually just the matter and energy that is <em>outside</em> the event horizon. In other words, you're seeing the light and matter that is not actually inside the black hole. This "stuff" usually orbits the black hole at large fractions of the speed of light. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-31T01:03:16.483Z
Okay I see. Thanks man.
draw134
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-30T16:55:37.540Z
2020-03-30T16:55:37.540Z
sforsingh
<p>I've seen some black hole images and I've seen some movies about it e.g(interstellar). I wonder why it has a light around it. Even if I know that light can't escape through it. Can someone enlighten me about this? Thanks.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-07T01:13:50.843Z
Highly related, if not a duplicate: [Why do Black Holes in the middle of galaxies not suck up the whole galaxy?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/2406)
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-07T01:16:01.197Z
Both this question and the highly related question share a common misconception of black holes: That they are immensely powerful vacuum cleaners in space. This is not the case.
David Hammen
<black-hole><universe><light><space><singularity>
If a black hole pulls every object in the universe, why there is a light around it?
draw134
# If a black hole pulls every object in the universe, why there is a light around it?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-03-30)

I've seen some black hole images and I've seen some movies about it e.g(interstellar). I wonder why it has a light around it. Even if I know that light can't escape through it. Can someone enlighten me about this? Thanks.

**Tags:** black-hole, universe, light, space, singularity
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Highly related, if not a duplicate: [Why do Black Holes in the middle of galaxies not suck up the whole galaxy?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/2406)  
> **username_1**: Both this question and the highly related question share a common misconception of black holes: That they are immensely powerful vacuum cleaners in space. This is not the case.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-03-30. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Well, you're partially correct here. A black hole traps everything *inside its event horizon*. Outside of the event horizon, matter (and energy) can still escape from its gravitational pull. This is due to the fact that the escape velocity of a black hole beyond its event horizon becomes greater than the speed of light itself.

So, the light you see around a black hole is actually just the matter and energy that is *outside* the event horizon. In other words, you're seeing the light and matter that is not actually inside the black hole. This "stuff" usually orbits the black hole at large fractions of the speed of light.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Okay I see. Thanks man.  

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