Near a black hole, gravity does more than pull objects inward — time itself runs more slowly, meaning two observers could experience different amounts of time simply because one ventured closer to the darkness.

Picture two astronauts saying goodbye near a black hole. Time itself, near that black hole, was simply moving at two different speeds for two different people. It’s a real, measured consequence of general relativity called gravitational time dilation, and it happens everywhere gravity exists, not only near black holes. The stronger the gravity you’re sitting in, the slower your clock runs compared to someone farther away from that gravity. Two clocks near a black hole run at different speeds whether anyone likes that or not.