The first picture of a black hole in the history of astronomy has been released today.
The first image of a black hole shows the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy M87. Credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration
On April 10, 2019, astronomers revealed the first image ever taken of a black hole, bringing a dramatic conclusion to a decades-long effort. The iconic image gave humanity its first glimpse of the gas and debris swirling around its event horizon, the point beyond which the material disappears forever. A favorite object of science fiction has finally been brought to life on screen.
The target was the nearby galaxy M87 and its supermassive black hole, which holds the mass of 6.5 billion suns. Despite its size, the black hole is so far from Earth – 53 million light years – that a telescope the size of the planet is required to capture an image.
This monumental achievement was only possible thanks to the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). The image data was taken back in 2017 but scientists spent two years piecing it together. This is because the EHT is made up of eight independent observatories spread around the world, which cooperate together to act as one giant detector. “We are pleased to tell you today that we have seen what we thought was invisible,” EHT Director Shep Doleman announced at a press conference to release the image. The researchers made their grand announcement simultaneously in seven different countries with a series of scientific papers published at the same time The Astrophysical Journal Letters. In 2022, an image of the black hole at the center of the galaxy was revealed.
