Midphase

Thank you for the clarification. Of course. I was thinking in terms of an outside observer looking at an object or other person approaching the event horizon. My understanding is also that, to an observer moving toward the event horizon, the observer will always perceive the event horizon as being further away even after he has crossed it. I suppose yet another strange effect of being in a black hole.

Thank you. Yes, I understand what you're saying regarding the tidal effects being mild due to the distance from the singularity. What I am curious about is if there are other forces present at the Schwarzschild radius which would make it difficult for a human to survive (well, beyond the vacuum of space) in a non-rotating black hole. I realize that this is purely theoretical, but what I'm curious is if it would be possible (given the right mass of a black hole and the right circumstances) for a human being to come within a reasonable distance of (but not cross into) the event horizon and survive. I also assume that time dilation at such a proximity would very much be a factor.

Hello all, I apologize in advance if this post is in the wrong section (hopefully not). I'm working on a story which was inspired in part by me wondering as to how could possibly Matthew McConaughey's character in the movie Interstellar be able to survive crossing into a black hole's event horizon without being destroyed far earlier and much further away from the event horizon by the extreme forces and heat present in the vicinity of a black hole (I know it's a movie, but I was given the impression that the filmmakers were trying to stay within the boundaries of science as much as possible). Upon reading Kip Thorne and Leonard Susskind's books on the subject, I learned to my surprise that a supermassive black hole's event horizon's tidal forces are well within a human's survival, with a tidal force differential being similar to what we experience on Earth. So this got me thinking, what about an ultra massive black hole? Something between 30 to 50 billion solar masses? What conditions would exist within a few meters of the event horizon? Would, in effect, a person be able to observe (but not cross) the boundary of the event horizon from such a vicinity without being instantly disintegrated; or would other energy and heat make such a scenario impossible? I hope someone here can enlighten me with as accurate science as possible about this particular question. Many thanks! >>Kays