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Event Horizon Telescope

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description Event Horizon Telescope Overview

The Event Horizon Telescope is an international collaboration employing eight radio telescopes to observe black holes. It achieved the first direct image of a supermassive black hole’s shadow at the center of galaxy M87. This groundbreaking project utilizes interferometry to produce unprecedented high-resolution images, testing Einstein's theory of general relativity and advancing our understanding of astrophysics. The data is primarily analyzed by astronomers and physicists researching extreme gravity and the behavior of matter near event horizons.

help Event Horizon Telescope FAQ

What black hole did the Event Horizon Telescope image first?

The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration released the first black hole shadow image in 2019, showing the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87. The object is usually called M87*, and it is far more massive than the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

How did the Event Horizon Telescope work without one giant telescope?

It linked radio observatories around the world using very-long-baseline interferometry, making them act like an Earth-sized telescope. The original 2017 observing campaign involved sites including ALMA in Chile and the South Pole Telescope.

Did the Event Horizon Telescope also image Sagittarius A*?

Yes. The collaboration released an image of Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way's central black hole, in 2022. That result was harder to reconstruct because Sagittarius A* changes faster on the sky than M87*.

Why are EHT black hole images blurry rings instead of sharp photos?

The images are reconstructed from radio-wave measurements, not ordinary visible-light photography. The bright ring comes from hot plasma near the black hole, while the dark center is the black hole shadow predicted by general relativity.

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