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Event Horizon Telescope
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Images
Sagittarius A* black hole in M87
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Event Horizon Telescope

astronomy
Also known as: EHT
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Sagittarius A*
Sagittarius A* First image of Sagittarius A* (or Sgr A* for short), the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. This image provided the first direct visual evidence of the presence of this black hole. It was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), an array of eight radio observatories across the world linked to form a single “Earth-sized” virtual telescope. The bright ring is the light from the surrounding hot bright gas bent by Sagittarius A*'s gravity, and the central dark spot is the shadow of the black hole against the hot gas.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a global network of radio telescopes that work together to create a virtual, Earth-sized telescope. Its primary goal is to capture the first images of a black hole's event horizon. An event horizon is the boundary around a black hole beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape.

The EHT has successfully imaged the supermassive black holes at the centers of the galaxy M87 and our own Milky Way galaxy, Sagittarius A*. These images reveal a ring of light around a dark central region, which is the black hole's shadow. This groundbreaking work allows scientists to study these enigmatic objects and test theories of gravity in extreme conditions.12

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4 Britannica Sources
  1. event horizon
  2. supermassive black hole
  3. M87
  4. Sagittarius A*

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