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We're just about to get our first glimpse of a black hole
written by Nicole Karlis April 10, 2019
At last, April 10 could mark the day scientists have been anticipating for more than a century as the first image of a black hole is expected to finally be revealed. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration will “present its first results in multiple simultaneous press conferences around the world,” according to a media release. While the EHT team did not specify that an image will be released, scientists around the world are expecting it.
“My guess is EHT will produce an image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy and also an image of one at the center of the nearby galaxy M87,” Dong Lai is a professor of astronomy at Cornell University and an expert on black holes said in a statement. “More precisely, these are images of radiating hot gas orbiting very close to the black hole. The strong gravity — the ‘event horizon’ — of black holes create a dark shadow with a distinct shape where no light can be seen.”
The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*, is 26,000 light-years away and has four million times the sun’s mass. Most galaxies are believed to have a supermassive black hole at their center upon which they pivot. As Salon has previously explained, imaging a black hole directly is impossible, given that they do not emit light; rather, astronomers aim to capture the matter that swirls around them at incredible speed due to their immense gravity, and which often radiates light.
“Nevertheless, it will be very nice and gratifying to see the black hole shadows directly,” Lai said. “This is very challenging because the images are heavily blurred by the interstellar gas. The EHT team is to be congratulated for overcoming many technical challenges to achieve the goal of imaging black holes.”
More:
https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/were-just-about-to-get-our-first-glimpse-of-a-black-hole/?utm_source=push_notifications
9 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Nicole Karlis, Salon NICOLE KARLIS, SALON
09 APR 2019 AT 22:54 ET
Theoretical astronomy tells us that when a black hole absorbs matter, a brief flash of light is visible as depicted in this artist's rendering (AFP Photo/MARK A. GARLICK)
At last, April 10 could mark the day scientists have been anticipating for more than a century as the first image of a black hole is expected to finally be revealed. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration will “present its first results in multiple simultaneous press conferences around the world,” according to a media release. While the EHT team did not specify that an image will be released, scientists around the world are expecting it.
At last, April 10 could mark the day scientists have been anticipating for more than a century as the first image of a black hole is expected to finally be revealed. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration will “present its first results in multiple simultaneous press conferences around the world,” according to a media release. While the EHT team did not specify that an image will be released, scientists around the world are expecting it.
More:
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/04/earthlings-never-seen-black-hole-change-tomorrow/?utm_source=push_notifications
