An
international group of astrophysicists have released their observations
of the giant black hole at the heart of the distant galaxy Messier 87.
As a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes, the
Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is an international collaboration of
scientists working to capture images of a black hole.
Announced in a series of six papers published in a special issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters,
the image revealed the black hole at the centre of Messier 87. This
black hole is located 55 million light-years away and has a mass of
about 6.5 billion Suns.
 |
Chandra X-ray Observatory close-up of the core of the M87 galaxy.
Credits: NASA/CXC/Villanova University/J. Neilsen
|
The project provided a way to test for
Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity during the centennial
year of the historic experiment that first confirmed the theory. Tested
using the motions of stars, Einstein's theory predicted the formation of
dark shadow-like region caused by the gravitational bending of light.
The
EHT uses a technique called very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) to
capture this image. This synchronized telescope facilities around the
world and took advantage of the rotation of the Earth to form one huge,
Earth-sized telescope observing at a wavelength of 1.3 mm.
Read the full press release here: https://eventhorizontelescope.org/
Image Credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration
No comments:
Write comments