https://www.engineeringnews.co.za
Testing
Testing
testing

First ever image of Black Hole released by international consortium

First image of a black hole

First image of a black hole

Photo by Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

10th April 2019

By: Rebecca Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

Font size: - +

The international science consortium called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) on Wednesday unveiled, in six simultaneous press conference around the world, the first image ever taken of a Black Hole. The object imaged was the supermassive Black Hole in the centre of the M87 galaxy, 55-million light years from Earth.

"You cannot see a Black Hole," noted EHT Science Council chairperson Professor Heino Falcke. "But you can see its shadow."

The accretion disk surrounding the Black Hole is clearly visible in the image. As the size of the disk is determined by the mass of the Black Hole, the astronomers have been able to calculate the mass of the Black Hole. It is 6.5-billion times the mass of the Sun.

"It is like looking at the gates of hell," said Falcke. "The end of space and time."

Although no South African telescope forms part of the EHT, University of Pretoria astrophysicist Professor Roger Deane is a member of the EHT consortium. Deane heads the University's Radio Astronomy Research Group. (The University hosted a live streaming feed from the EHT press conference, announcing the image, in Brussels in Belgium.)

The EHT is composed of an array of eight ground-based radio telescopes around the world. At the University of Pretoria, Deane and his team created an extremely realistic simulation of the eight telescopes working together as a single array. This allowed the determination of the array's limits and the testing of the algorithms that were used to recover the Black Hole's shadow.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

Showroom

Rio-Carb
Rio-Carb

Our Easy Access Chute concept was developed to reduce the risks related to liner maintenance. Currently, replacing wear liners require that...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD
Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD

For over 30 years, Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD has been designing, manufacturing, supplying and maintaining specialist...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Magazine round up | 19 April 2024
Magazine round up | 19 April 2024
19th April 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.14 0.202s - 166pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now