Capturing a black hole image has proven to be cumbersome as scientists have been struggling for years. This is prompted as blackholes eliminate light, making it almost impossible to view.
Every significant galaxy is believed to have a supermassive blackhole, whereby gravity is intense to the extent that light is devoured.
First-ever image of a black hole
On April 10, success was instigated as a group of researchers were able to capture the first-ever image of a supermassive black hole. Expressly, the scientists are members of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.
Even though the image was not very clear, this is a considerable milestone in the research spectrum.
The team is set to get a 2020 Breakthrough Award worth three million dollars ($3M). Explicitly, the group comprises of three hundred and forty-seven (347) scientists, and each will get nearly eight thousand and six hundred dollars ($8,600).
The image depicts a supermassive black hole located at the middle of a Messier 87 galaxy that is nearly fifty-four (54) million light-years away from the Earth.
Additionally, the mass of the black hole as depicted by the image, has a mass of probably over six billion (6.5B) suns.
Black holes’ event horizon
An event horizon is a border that defines black holes. Expressly, it is an area of space that has a dense matter to the extent that light is not able to escape gravity. As a result, a circular shadow is created, whereby all matter and light are gobbled up.
Supermassive black holes usually have a certain accretion disk, clouds comprising of dust and hot gas trapped in orbit, and this is generally at the outer side of the event horizon.
On the other hand, scientists do not have the capability of seeing beyond the event horizon. It has also been stipulated that if a black hole were to advance towards Earth, all things on the pathway would be swallowed.
