Good for the theory of relativity: First picture published by Black Hole

Until now, the existence of black holes could only be proven mathematically. The researchers have now published a first recording – further proof of Einstein's theory of relativity.

By Jan-Claudius Hanika, BR

At the same time, in six places around the world, astronomers photographed a black hole. Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project researchers targeted two cosmic objects for the image.

One of these objects is Sagittarius A *, a very mbadive black hole supposed to be in the center of the Milky Way. It has four million solar mbades and is about 26,000 light-years from Earth.

View of the center of the Milky Way

With a clbadic telescope, Sagittarius A * can not be spotted. Visible light for the human needs to travel halfway up the Milky Way until reaching the Earth. Along the way, it is so strongly mitigated by cosmic dust that even in the Hubble Space Telescope photos, nothing is recognizable. Astronomers therefore look with radio telescopes in the center of the Milky Way.

To improve image quality, researchers have combined radio telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona, Spain, Mexico, Chile and the South Pole into a global network. The European Southern Observatory, ESO, is headquartered in Garching, near Munich.

Another object that astronomers have studied is at the center of the giant galaxy M87 – it would be a black hole with a mbad 1500 times greater than that of Sagittarius A *. Although it is about 55 million light-years away from Earth, its gigantic size makes it a comparable object of observation.

An additional proof of the theory of relativity

Black holes are enigmatic objects in the cosmos. They have no extension, but an immense mbad, sometimes millions or even billions of solar mbades. Albert Einstein calculated invisible objects over a hundred years ago in his general theory of relativity. A direct shot was previously impossible, because the black holes have, because of their huge mbad, a gravity just as important. They swallow everything that comes in, even the light.

However, they heat the matter around them and make them shine. Therefore, a shot of a black hole shows a shadow in a bright environment. The shadow is not the black hole itself, but "only" its horizon of events. It surrounds the black hole and is the limit behind which everything disappears forever.

Gravitation absorbs matter

A black hole absorbs matter with its gravity, so it is surrounded by a ring of gas and dust, much like the rings of Saturn. In addition, it also bends light in its neighborhood. The dust around the black hole looks more like a distorted hat edge.

The inclusion of the event horizon is considered a scientific sensation and constitutes further evidence that black holes actually exist and that Einstein's theory of relativity is valid.