In my imagination, I always thought we could put a black box around a black hole, and it would be indistinguishable from any other mass - that is, any other mass that can be treated as a point mass.
I.e. put a black hole with solar mass 1 in a black box. Put a star with solar mass 1 in another black box. From a gravitational point of view, you couldn't tell the difference, yes?
But this result implies that the black box with the black hole will gain mass over time, even without adding any mass into the black box? So you could distinguish it from another mass?
Or do I have that wrong? My understanding is as someone who is interested but has no real education on these topics.
I.e. put a black hole with solar mass 1 in a black box. Put a star with solar mass 1 in another black box. From a gravitational point of view, you couldn't tell the difference, yes?
But this result implies that the black box with the black hole will gain mass over time, even without adding any mass into the black box? So you could distinguish it from another mass?
Or do I have that wrong? My understanding is as someone who is interested but has no real education on these topics.