What would happen is a black hole was in the path of a gamma ray burst?
3 Answers
It could occur but nothing would happen.
Explanation:
The gamma ray is that part of the light spectrum that has the most energy attached to it.
A black hole, because of its immense gravity, simply gobbles up anything that gets caught at the event horizon (event horizon is that part of a black hole beyond which all matter and light cannot escape). And so a black hole would simply eat up any gamma energy that reached it.
To add to the answer already given; there is a certain radius around a black hole called the schwarzschild radius which marks the area around a black hole where practically everything is absorbed because of the powerful gravitational forces of the black hole. one of the characteristics of this radius is that the escape velocity is equal to the speed of light. Gamma radiation is still in the light spectrum, and thus its speed is in fact not bigger than the speed of light. so as the other answer already said, the black hole would simply absorb the radiation and nothing would happen.
If a black hole was in the path of a gamma ray burst, some photons would follow a curved path and some would be absorbed.
Explanation:
Gamma rays are high energy photons. If a black hole was in the path of a gamma ray burst it would affect the path of the photons.
Photons travel in straight lines in the absence of gravity. The intense gravitational field of the black hole curves the fabric of spacetime. Photons which pass close to the black hole will follow geodesics which are the equivalent of straight lines in curved spacetime. Their paths would bend around the black hole.
Any photons with a path that intersects the black hole's event horizon would not be able to escape the black hole's gravity. They would fall into the black hole and the photons' energy would increase the mass of the black hole.
