A black hole is a region in space, where the gravity is so intense that even light cannot escape its strong grasp. Black holes are formed when giant stars explode at the end of their lifecycle. This explosion is called a supernova. When a star collapses under its own weight, it results in the concentration of a huge amount of mass densely packed in an incredibly small area. The region is so dense that it wraps the fabric of space and time. Black holes can grow huge as they continue to attract light, dust and gas towards them. They can even devour other stars.
So, do black holes become unstable? This is explained by a concept called Hawking radiation, named after the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking who provided a theoretical argument for its existence in 1974. According to this argument, black holes release small amounts of thermal radiation, which reduce their mass and rotational energy. It is also known as black hole evaporation. Because of this black holes slowly become smaller and unstable. It would then lose the rest of its mass in a short time as abrupt explosions, which can be detected as gamma ray bursts.
But it would, however, take eons for a black hole to evaporate and die. For instance, a supermassive black hole with a mass of 100 billion solar mass will evaporate in around 2 x 10 years.
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