The Milky Way’s Black Hole Looks Amazing In Its Very First Photo

The Milky Way’s Black Hole Looks Amazing In Its Very First Photo

Photo credit: NASA
As you might expect, capturing a picture like this was far from simple. Astronomers linked the Event Horizon Telescope network with eight other radio observatories scattered across Earth. Combined, the telescopes formed one ‘Earth-sized’ telescope working as a single unit. After observing the black hole for multiple days and nights, we got the new photo everyone’s raving about.
If this isn’t what you expected our galaxy’s black hole to look like, that’s because this isn’t the actual black hole. By nature, black holes are impossible to photograph. Since they’re just a void of blackness, snapping a photo of one isn’t exactly easy. What you see in this picture is the glowing gas around the black hole. The ‘shadow’ sits in the center of the orange gas that’s forming in a ring-like shape. As the Event Horizon Telescope website explains, “The new view captures light bent by the powerful gravity of the black hole, which is four million times more massive than our Sun.”

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Along with being stunning to look at, this photo also marks a considerable step forward in better understanding the galaxy we all call home. Project Scientist Geoffrey Bower, who helped pull this off, says it best: “We were stunned by how well the size of the ring agreed with predictions from Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. These unprecedented observations have greatly improved our understanding of what happens at the very center of our galaxy, and offer new insights on how these giant black holes interact with their surroundings.”

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Source: Event Horizon Telescope

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#Milky #Ways #Black #Hole #Amazing #Photo

The Milky Way’s Black Hole Looks Amazing In Its Very First Photo

Photo credit: NASA
As you might expect, capturing a picture like this was far from simple. Astronomers linked the Event Horizon Telescope network with eight other radio observatories scattered across Earth. Combined, the telescopes formed one ‘Earth-sized’ telescope working as a single unit. After observing the black hole for multiple days and nights, we got the new photo everyone’s raving about.
If this isn’t what you expected our galaxy’s black hole to look like, that’s because this isn’t the actual black hole. By nature, black holes are impossible to photograph. Since they’re just a void of blackness, snapping a photo of one isn’t exactly easy. What you see in this picture is the glowing gas around the black hole. The ‘shadow’ sits in the center of the orange gas that’s forming in a ring-like shape. As the Event Horizon Telescope website explains, “The new view captures light bent by the powerful gravity of the black hole, which is four million times more massive than our Sun.”

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1535570269372-ccr3’); });

Along with being stunning to look at, this photo also marks a considerable step forward in better understanding the galaxy we all call home. Project Scientist Geoffrey Bower, who helped pull this off, says it best: “We were stunned by how well the size of the ring agreed with predictions from Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. These unprecedented observations have greatly improved our understanding of what happens at the very center of our galaxy, and offer new insights on how these giant black holes interact with their surroundings.”

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1535570269372-ccr4’); });

Source: Event Horizon Telescope

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#Milky #Ways #Black #Hole #Amazing #Photo