Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2022 May 1 [2]The featured image shows a black hole in unprecedented detail as first seen by the Event Horizon in 2019. The featured black hole resides at the center of nearby galaxy M87. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. First Horizon-Scale Image of a Black Hole Image Credit: [3]Event Horizon Telescope [4]Collaboration Explanation: What does a black hole look like? To find out, [5]radio telescopes from [6]around the Earth coordinated observations of [7]black holes with the largest known [8]event horizons on the sky. Alone, black holes are just [9]black, but these monster attractors are known to be surrounded by glowing gas. This first image [10]resolves the area around the [11]black hole at the center of [12]galaxy M87 on a scale below that expected for its [13]event horizon. [14]Pictured, the dark central region is not the event horizon, but rather the [15]black hole's shadow -- the central region of emitting gas darkened by the central black hole's gravity. The size and shape of the shadow is determined by bright gas [16]near the event horizon, by strong [17]gravitational lensing deflections, and by the black hole's spin. In resolving [18]this black hole's shadow, the [19]Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) bolstered evidence that [20]Einstein's gravity works even in [21]extreme regions, and gave [22]clear evidence that [23]M87 has a central spinning black hole of about 6 billion solar masses. Since releasing this featured image in 2019, the [24]EHT has expanded to include [25]more telescopes, observe [26]more black holes, track [27]polarized light,and [28]is working to observe the immediately vicinity of the [29]black hole in [30]the center of our [31]Milky Way Galaxy. This week is: [32]Black Hole Week New EHT Results to be Announced: [33]Next Thursday Tomorrow's picture: martian sun __________________________________________________________________ [34]< | [35]Archive | [36]Submissions | [37]Index | [38]Search | [39]Calendar | [40]RSS | [41]Education | [42]About APOD | [43]Discuss | [44]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [45]Robert Nemiroff ([46]MTU) & [47]Jerry Bonnell ([48]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [49]Specific rights apply. [50]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [51]ASD at [52]NASA / [53]GSFC & [54]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2205/M87bh_EHT_2629.jpg 3. https://eventhorizontelescope.org/ 4. https://eventhorizontelescope.org/organization 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_telescope 6. https://eventhorizontelescope.org/files/eht/files/eht_globes_physicstoday_marrone_east.jpeg 7. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/black-holes 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_horizon#Event_horizon_of_a_black_hole 9. https://youtu.be/JoLEIiza9Bc 10. https://www.eso.org/public/usa/outreach/first-picture-of-a-black-hole/blog/ 11. https://beta.nsf.gov/blackholes 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210415.html 13. https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/04/10/black-holes-are-real-and-spectacular-and-so-are-their-event-horizons/ 14. https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/2041-8205/page/Focus_on_EHT 15. https://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/projects/blackhole_shadows.html 16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-O-Qdh7VvQ 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html 18. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ab0ec7 19. https://eventhorizontelescope.org/about 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity 21. https://youtu.be/bciCbN8lc08 22. https://previews.123rf.com/images/aleksandrrr/aleksandrrr1606/aleksandrrr160600010/60185350-gray-kitten-and-microscope.jpg 23. http://chandra.si.edu/photo/2019/black_hole/ 24. https://eventhorizontelescope.org/science 25. https://eventhorizontelescope.org/array 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210804.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210331.html 28. https://www.inverse.com/science/milky-way-black-hole-image-prediction 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011029.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180729.html 31. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/285/the-milky-way-galaxy/ 32. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/Gallery/BlackHoleWeek.html 33. https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=305028 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220430.html 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 38. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 42. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 43. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220501 44. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220502.html 45. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 46. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 47. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 48. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 49. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 50. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 51. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 52. https://www.nasa.gov/ 53. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 54. http://www.mtu.edu/