Why this black hole photo is such a big deal
What it took to collect these 54-million-year-old photons from a supermassive black hole.
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This is an updated version of a video we published in 2016 about the Event Horizon Telescope, an international collaboration to image a black hole for the first time in human history.
On April 10, 2019, the team announced their results: They had successfully imaged the supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy m87, which is nearly 54 million light-years away from us. They were able to achieve unprecedented resolution using very long baseline interferometry, which combines the observations of multiple radio telescopes across the globe.
The team wanted to find out whether Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity holds up in the extreme environment of black holes, and the results do, in fact, seem to be consistent with the predictions. In the future, we may see more and shaper images of black holes as the team targets smaller wavelengths of light and recruits more telescopes. Eventually, they may include an orbiting space telescope.
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For more information about the photo, check out this article by Vox’s Brian Resnick: https://www.vox.com/2019/4/10/18302343/first-picture-black-hole-eht-photo-event-horizon And here’s Seth Fletcher’s book, which follows the Event Horizon Telescope project from the start: https://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Shadow-Black-Astronomers-Unseeable-ebook/dp/B075WSLWFX/ref=sr_1_1
Glas to see your not covering fake news.
A few people in here have me concerned for our future.
I feel that they should’ve gave the team a little more shine
+StarsandStones I think the point was that gravitational waves with that magnitude of power couldn’t be explained by anything, but yes it is true that anything that doesn’t have spherical symmetry can make gravitational waves
Why is this called a photo, when it isn’t? “It’s a composite image made of scraps of data.” This is what makes it real?
3:50 aren’t HF radio waves in the 10-100 m range?
Scientist: *speaks about science*
Vox: *puts some comedy music becuse why not*
Lmao now I can’t take him seriously after reading your comment.
Lol😂😂
If you listen really close while viewing the image you can hear Matthew McConaughey yelling, “MUURRRPH!”
“Alright, alright, alright.”
STAY
That was a good movie
😂😂😂😂
Coincidentally I watched interstellar last night then woke up to this news….
Should have tried P30 pro. They say it has astonishing capabilities. Just kidding. Great work from our scientists!
Lmao
is that a version of the huawei phone?
TellyVee yes
We’re legit learning astronomy in school rn and my science teacher freaked out when this happened
Actually it isn’t a big deal. As soon as some celebrity says or does something dumb again all of you will forget about black holes.
+Shill Stompers You sound like a flat earther
+Shill Stompers Any image taken by a camera is technically a Computer Generated Image as well. An image from a camera is generated with the light from an object. The black hole was generated from data, which was light. You are technically correct, but it is not disappointing. It is a picture that was made just like any other picture, just with more information.
What you stated isn’t something to be disappointed in. It was made just like any other picture. It becomes even more impressive when you realize that they did it with a similar process.
Shill Stompers you are the reason humanity is held back
+Shill Stompers “sheeple” oh god
For people whose complaining about the quality of the image early on this day, do you realize how far that thing is?!
We have Super Strong Telescopes tho :/
And how small the black hole is
+P If you pointed a flash light at this black hole and turned it on, it would take 54 million years for the black hole to “see” your flashlight (assuming your flashlight could somehow actually reach, blah blah etc etc)
+Connor Carbon Ohhhh, I get it now. Just a cool 54 million years! I wonder how big of a jar is needed to fit 54 million jelly beans… hmmm…
The Wise Old Man lol
It’s sad how Stephen Hawking wasn’t able to see this.
Aw now I’m sad my favorite astrophysicist couldn’t see it 🙁
+Osama Bin Fappin :,(
It wasnt released until now but they have had the picture since 2015
Plot twist
HE IS THE BLACK HOLE
+The Ice :O
Within the last 5 years humans have discovered gravitational waves and captured the first picture of a black hole… I can only imagine what the next *50 years* holds
it’s not a picture of a black hole though, it’s a picture of its shadow. I hate it when scientists dumb stuff down to get the public excited about something by in a sense lying to them about the exact nature of it.
+Dravenjma
So you’re THAT guy huh…
Sex bots.
Black Box VR Lab
I hope to be alive
Black Box VR Lab if you think it’s only been known in the last 5 years you’d be wrong , scientist and researchers know far more than they are willing to share with the public
let’s be happy that everyone living this day we will be in history!!!
solar legend
Seriously, I feel like this is our version of witnessing the moon landing – and relatively speaking, just after Higgs boson and LIGO. What a decade for science.
What?
We’re all going to be in history anyway. Just not as important as this 😉
It’s glorious to know I lived to see the first image of the universe’s greatest mystery.
greatest mystery is dark matter
2019: we saw the first picture of a black hole
Also 2019: anti vaxxers
and Flat Earthers!
Don’t worry, scientific breakthroughs like these are still leagues above those dumasses ignoring common sense, you can forget them here :))
Yeah but anti-vaxxers are a lot more prominent this year than flat earthers even though flat earthers are more relevant to the video
Einstein proved to be right now after 98 years
predicted gravitational waves in 1916, proved to be right in 2015, if he is called a genius, no one else is
This should remind people that there are still some extrodinary things out there to explore, other than our human made stuff and just caring about ourself. Just sayin…
There are billions more than just “some”.
Are you Gokus.fan on insta, I follow you
Look back to the ancient times
Back when muslim mathematicians were studying astronomy
Back when Copernicus discovers that we are heliocentric
Back when Einstein theorized black holes
And back when we finally flew off the earth.
We should be proud of ourselves and that pride is our motivation to discover more.
Goku hub great point goku
Shhhhhhhhh I need this job lol
Humans: we finally found you black hole!
Black hole: dang it you found me after 5 billion years! On the positive side, that’s a new record
1 like = 1 prayer for Steven Hawkin who unfortunately couldn’t see this
Pineapple Pablo how so?
i mean he pretty much destroyed his relationship with his wife so i guess so
+Pineapple Pablo
No He will burn in hell after judgement day and you will get one thousand virgins
Sup cool kids
This is such a nonsensical comment..
Patiently waits for the discovery of aliens.
“Whoops guys, accidentally deleted it”
+GAMES PRODUCTIONS – BRED no the entire planet
Imagine that happening, the person would have been sent to the black hole itself from all that slamming over the internet and news channels and their peers and everybody they meet.
+Luke Detering It was clearly sarcasm man, also tho, there is no “original photo” – it’s a mesh-like layer of billions of gigabytes of data combined together over 1.5 years.
lmao woopsy daisy
Well, Nasa did accidentaly tape over the original moon landings sooo…
“Oops, I forgot to take off the lens cap!”
Last words of a scientist before angry NASA bois took matters into their own hands
Yea, no.
C’mon Patrick!
“Too small, Too far away, or both”
that’s good.
Vox: _”We had their fingerprints, just not their mugshots_ ”
And the Crime they committed was breaking the laws of physics!
you… you just…
+Bean Bean hehehe lol 😂
Truely an image that’ll be in school books in the next couple of years and will be a quiz of what date it was revealed. April 10th, 2019