Home Science The first image of a black hole

The first image of a black hole

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The first image of a black hole was released in 2019 by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration: 

  • When: April 10, 2019 
  • What: An image of the black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87 
  • How: The EHT linked eight radio observatories around the world to create a virtual telescope the size of Earth 
  • What it shows: A bright ring of light around a dark central region, called a “shadow” 
  • Why it’s important: It’s the first direct visual evidence of a black hole 

The image was created using data collected in April 2017. The EHT team used an algorithm called Principal-component Interferometric Modeling (PRIMO) to fill in gaps in the original image. The final image was very similar to simulations the team had produced, suggesting it was the most accurate possible. 

In May 2022, the EHT Collaboration released the first image of a black hole in the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*: 

  • What it shows: Light bent by the powerful gravity of the black hole, which is four million times more massive than our Sun

The EHT plans to improve its resolution by adding new telescopes and taking shorter-wavelength observations.

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