First Picture of a Black Hole

This photo represents a major milestone for astrophysics. This is our first visual and direct evidence of a black hole. Black holes have long been theorized to exist, given they are allowed to exist in Einstein's equations. We have detected black holes, mainly through the radiation they exude: Hawking Radiation. However, a photo had never been taken of a black hole, mainly because of the engineering difficulties to do so. A team of scientists has finally conquered that feat. The scientists who coordinated this project made a network of telescopes around the world, calling themselves the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.

 The scientists pointed all of the telescopes at the same point, essentially creating a telescope the size of Earth. Once the data from each telescope was stitched together, a single image of the black hole could be produced. On April 10, 2019, scientists unveiled this picture of the black hole at the center of Messier 87. It is important to note that technically the image shows the silhouette of the black hole, given it is currently impossible to view past the event horizon.

What are your thoughts on the black hole?