Despite the endless stream of science fiction books and films, black holes are not galactic bullies that roam the universe, gobbling up anything that gets in their way. Like Earth — and every other mass in the universe — black holes also have a gravitational pull, and planets can orbit around one just like the Earth orbits the sun and the moon orbits the Earth.

Dr. Christina Smith, who has her doctorate in Astrophysics from the University of Manchester, points out that if the Sun were to disappear suddenly, and a black hole (with the exact same mass) took its place, the Earth wouldn't get sucked in; it would continue orbiting around it, as if nothing happened. However, the black hole wouldn’t fill the same volume.

A black hole’s volume is just two centimeters in diameter — the black sphere known as an event horizon, where absolutely nothing, including light, can break free. As long as an object remains outside an event horizon, it has potential to escape the enormous gravitational pull of a black hole — so it’s time to stop thinking of these celestial bodies as heavenly Hoovers.