The Newtonian Dark Star | AI Learning Guide

Before Einstein, the idea of a black hole existed in Newtonian physics. In 1783, John Michell suggested that if a star were massive enough, its escape velocity would exceed the speed of light. Imagine adjusting the mass of a star in this simulation. As you increase the mass, the light rays emitted from the surface bend more sharply. If the mass is high enough, the light cannot escape at all, creating what Michell called a 'dark star.'

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Michell's Insight (1783)

John Michell proposed that if a star were massive enough, its escape velocity would exceed the speed of light. He called these 'dark stars.' Using Newtonian gravity, he calculated that a star with the density of the Sun but 500 times its radius would be invisible.

Laplace's Confirmation

Pierre-Simon Laplace independently arrived at the same conclusion in 1796. However, with the later wave theory of light replacing the corpuscular theory, the idea was largely abandoned until Einstein's General Relativity revived it.