This story has been updated .
An international squad of more than 200 scientists have made history by capture the first - ever figure of a black hole . The much - awaited photo , seen above , was released this morning by the National Science Foundation ( NSF ) after the agencyannouncedlast workweek that it would be revealing the groundbreaking finding . Previously , the only ikon of black yap were illustrations and simulations that were mold after everything scientists make love about a pitch-black hole ’s burden on nearby objects . Since no light escapes these incredibly thick bodies , scientists have n’t been capable to right away observe them , let alone photograph them .
But we now knowwhat a sinister hole looks like , thanks to theEvent Horizon Telescope(EHT ) project . Researchers colligate eight radio observatories around the world to create a “ virtual ground - sized telescope ” that was large enough to catch the supermassive blackened hole at the midpoint of theMessier 87(M87 ) galaxy , which is located 54 million tripping years from Earth . This colossal object is 6.5 billion times more massive than our Sun and has the top executive to warp space - metre and superheat objects in its vicinity .
" We ’re seeing the unseeable , ” NSF Director France Córdova said in astatement . “ Black maw have sparked imaginations for decades . They have exotic properties and are mysterious to us . Yet with more observations like this one they are yielding their enigma . ”
The annulus you see around the black hole is formed by gas and dust aslight bendsin the mordant hole ’s stiff gravitational pull . Orange hues wereaddedto the image because the measurements enamour by scientists occurred at a wavelength that ’s invisible to the eye . As many have indicate out , the end result wait a little like the Eye of Sauron fromThe Lord of the Rings .
" If immersed in a bright realm , like a disc of burn gas , we wait a pitch-dark hole to create a dark region exchangeable to a shadow — something augur by Einstein’sgeneral relativitythat we ’ve never see before , " said Heino Falcke , chair of the EHT Science Council .
For more on this groundbreaking achievement , check out the NSF’snews spillage .
