Event Horizon Telescope Results Released Yesterday (April 10, 2019)

In summary: I'm guessing almost identical to the radio image?The Event Horizon Telescope is a collection of radio telescopes all over the world which recorded data from the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way. Combining the different data sets leads to a virtual telescope as large as Earth in terms of angular resolution - good enough to resolve the area directly around the black hole. This article shows some simulations how it might look like.
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Media Advisory: Press Conference on First Result from the Event Horizon Telescope
April 10, 15:00 CEST (13:00 UTC. In 8 days and 13 hours)
Livestream links are on that website.

The Event Horizon Telescope is a collection of radio telescopes all over the world which recorded data from the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way. Combining the different data sets leads to a virtual telescope as large as Earth in terms of angular resolution - good enough to resolve the area directly around the black hole.

This article shows some simulations how it might look like.Edit: The first image:

first_image_of_black_hole-jpg.jpg
 

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Astronomy news on Phys.org
  • #2
Sorry, what are those simulations supposed to be showing? The SMBH eclipsing a star that is near the center of the MWG? Sorry if I'm missing the obvious...
 
  • #3
The accretion disk around the black hole - gas and random other stuff orbiting the black hole closely. Brighter: More stuff.

There shouldn't be stars that close. We know one that has a periapsis speed of 3% the speed of light, but that is still outside the range the Event Horizon Telescope is interested in.
 
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  • #4
Hmm, apparently it is "a groundbreaking result from the EHT".
 
  • #5
I guess this will expand the horizon of our knowledge...
 
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  • #7
Is this just a first light/data release or is there some accompanying journal article?
 
  • #8
I'm sure there will be at least a note, but probably a preprint or publication that comes with the press conference.
 
  • #10
Kind of like the simulations...
Screenshot, poor quality.

blackhole.png


Edit: After some color corrections and so on. Left observation, right a theory prediction.

blackhole3.png
 
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  • #11
M87 it is!
 
  • #15
Greg Bernhardt said:

I wonder what the implications for Hawking radiation and other black hole theories are.

Also, there's just too much crap in the way to get a clear shot of Sagittarius right?
 
  • #16
tade said:
I wonder what the implications for Hawking radiation and other black hole theories are.
There would be no implications for Hawking radiation. A black hole this massive would essentially have a temperature of absolute zero.
 
  • #17
Amazing picture!
 
  • #18
So does this count as the first direct detection of black holes?
 
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  • #20
Video from Veritasium on how to understand the image of a black hole:

 
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  • #22
Cool picture, but what is actually new here? Haven't we already gotten pictures of matter falling into black holes? Is this just cooler because it's circular and black in the middle?
 
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  • #23
berkeman said:
Sorry for the dumb question (especially if it's already been addressed), but if they used 8 radio telescopes to form this image, where did the visible light colors come from?
Colorization. Somebody picked them.
 
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  • #24
Drakkith said:
Video from Veritasium on how to understand the image of a black hole:


This is a very good explanation of what the black hole image shows.
 
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  • #25
russ_watters said:
Colorization. Somebody picked them.

what is the visible spectrum image expected to look like? Based on the physics, I'm guessing almost identical to the radio image?
 
  • #26
russ_watters said:
Haven't we already gotten pictures of matter falling into black holes?
No.
 
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  • #27
The colors just visualize the intensity of the (radio-wave) radiation. Brighter/yellow: More radiation. Darker/red: Less radiation. It is synchrotron radiation, visible light would come from thermal radiation, it can have a different distribution. Gas clouds between the black hole and us absorb too much visible light.

@russ_watters: It is the first time we see a black hole as more than just a point-like object in the sky.
 
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  • #28
Orodruin said:
No.
I'm really not trying to be difficult, but how is this new image any different from that standpoint, from this one:

xtej1118_xray_420.jpg


mfb said:
@russ_watters: It is the first time we see a black hole as more than just a point-like object in the sky.
So, high enough resolution that we can see a black disk in the middle? Fair enough.
 
  • #29
russ_watters said:
I'm really not trying to be difficult, but how is this new image any different from that standpoint, from this one:
You are not really seeing the event horizon. You are seeing the products in terms of radiation coming from there but it is a point object so you have not really resolved anything. This image resolves the direct effects near the event horizon.
 
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  • #30
berkeman said:
Sorry for the dumb question (especially if it's already been addressed), but if they used 8 radio telescopes to form this image, where did the visible light colors come from?

https://abc7news.com/science/heres-the-first-ever-direct-image-of-a-black-hole/5241612/
View attachment 241632

View attachment 241633

They used a paint-by-numbers kit. :cool:

Also the picture kind of looks like a smiley face maybe it knows it'll gobble up our planet sometime in the distant future perhaps and end of simulation for us.
 
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  • #31
I had a colleague put a rewriting of the Ring Verse from Lord of the Rings so I had to counter with a limerick:

There once was a black hole named Kevan,
so big and far up in heaven,
in the accretion disk
you'll know you're at risk
to be eaten by M87


Edit: He re-countered so I had to write another one ...

In a galaxy far far away
A long time ago, so they say
An enormous black hole
went out of control
its ring was the unwilling prey
 
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  • #32
First story on radio 1 and 2 all day beating Brexit and Israeli elections
 
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  • #33
Does the light come from the accretion disk?
 
  • #34
virgil1612 said:
Does the light come from the accretion disk?
Yes, the generated image of the radio signals that you see are coming from the accretion disk

ohhh and it isn't "light" it isn't optically visible ( that is ... this IS NOT an optical image)...
the radio emissions are at very short microwave radio wavelength, 1.3mm ( frequency ~ 230 GHz)Dave
 
  • #35
berkeman said:
but if they used 8 radio telescopes to form this image, where did the visible light colors come from?

russ_watters said:
Colorization. Somebody picked them.

yes ... so the brighter the colour, the stronger the radio emissionoops, I see @mfb commented the same
 
<h2>1. What is the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)?</h2><p>The EHT is a global network of radio telescopes that work together to create an Earth-sized virtual telescope. It is designed to capture images of black holes and other extreme objects in the universe.</p><h2>2. What were the results released by the EHT on April 10, 2019?</h2><p>The EHT released the first-ever direct image of a black hole, located in the center of the galaxy Messier 87. This image provides strong evidence for the existence of black holes and confirms Einstein's theory of general relativity.</p><h2>3. How was the image of the black hole captured?</h2><p>The EHT used a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), which involves combining data from multiple telescopes to create a high-resolution image. This image was created using data collected in April 2017.</p><h2>4. What does this image tell us about black holes?</h2><p>The image shows a bright ring of light surrounding a dark region, known as the event horizon, which marks the point of no return for anything entering a black hole. This confirms the existence of black holes and provides insight into their structure and behavior.</p><h2>5. What are the implications of these results for future research?</h2><p>The EHT's success in capturing the first image of a black hole opens up new possibilities for studying these enigmatic objects. It also demonstrates the power of collaborations and advancements in technology for furthering our understanding of the universe.</p>

1. What is the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)?

The EHT is a global network of radio telescopes that work together to create an Earth-sized virtual telescope. It is designed to capture images of black holes and other extreme objects in the universe.

2. What were the results released by the EHT on April 10, 2019?

The EHT released the first-ever direct image of a black hole, located in the center of the galaxy Messier 87. This image provides strong evidence for the existence of black holes and confirms Einstein's theory of general relativity.

3. How was the image of the black hole captured?

The EHT used a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), which involves combining data from multiple telescopes to create a high-resolution image. This image was created using data collected in April 2017.

4. What does this image tell us about black holes?

The image shows a bright ring of light surrounding a dark region, known as the event horizon, which marks the point of no return for anything entering a black hole. This confirms the existence of black holes and provides insight into their structure and behavior.

5. What are the implications of these results for future research?

The EHT's success in capturing the first image of a black hole opens up new possibilities for studying these enigmatic objects. It also demonstrates the power of collaborations and advancements in technology for furthering our understanding of the universe.

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