We have quite excitedly brought to you news about the EHT and the marvelous milestone it has achieved; the very first imaging of a black hole. This feat is of paramount importance as it brings us a step closer to understanding the black holes. What follows is a list of few things that many of you might not be aware of about the image of the black hole. Check out the list and do let us know what you think of it!
The Actual Black Hole Is Exponentially Bigger
We are sure that you have seen the image of the black hole that has been making rounds on social media. However, not many seem to understand that it is a zoomed in picture of the black hole. You can actually check out the zoomed out version too and trust us; it is surreal.
The Amount Of Data Was Enormous
The amount of data that was used for capturing the image is just enormous. Thanks to Katie Bouman, who developed the algorithm that was used for capturing this image, whom you can see sitting with the 5 million GB of data that was used to capture the image.
They Turned The Earth Into A Telescope
It is surprising to see the kind of feats that can be accomplished when humanity comes together. Some of these feats are simply magical and capturing the first image of the black hole was one of such feats. In order to capture the photograph of the black hole, the whole earth was transformed into one big telescope using a network of telescopes – Event Horizon Telescope
Hawking & Einstein Were Right!
Einstein put forward the Theory of General Relativity about ten decades ago, and the picture confirms it!
The People Behind It!
Dr Bouman was the one who developed the algorithm. The whole thing wouldn’t have been possible with Feryal Ozel – an astronomy and astrophysics professor at the University of Arizona. She was on the Science Council that wrote a paper about how you can take a picture of a black hole. And many other hard working and genius people who made sure that this feat could be made possible.
We Actually Traveled Back In Time!
Ah yes, the black hole is actually millions of light years away, and the picture that you are seeing is from millions of years ago!