Iconic First Image of Black Hole Holds Up To Scrutiny

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Conversation: On April 10 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration revealed the first picture of a black hole. The object is at the centre of a galaxy known as M87, about 55 million light-years away. The iconic ring structure instantly became one of the most recognized scientific images of the modern era. It showed a black hole "shadow" outlined by light from swirling hot gas -- just as predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity. The result supported the long-standing idea that the centers of galaxies house supermassive black holes. However, scientists have since had some disagreements on whether the details and structure of the ring in the original publication were accurate. Our new research, published today in Nature, used new techniques to investigate the original datasets. Not only do our results validate the original work, but they also provide a fresh perspective on the ring structure. Our independent results enhance confidence in one of the most significant modern scientific results. And we bring the image of a black hole millions of light-years away back into focus.

[...] When compared directly to images from the EHT collaboration, our result is consistent in diameter and overall orientation. Naturally, there are some differences in the fine details of ring width and surface brightness along the circumference, but the overall structure matches. This provides a fresh perspective on the iconic black hole ring while also resolving previous discrepancies. To prove this success didn't depend solely on advanced machine learning, we also developed a complementary imaging method based on traditional statistical techniques. This entirely different method also validated our structure using the new closure invariant data we produced. Overall, our work delivers a strong independent validation of the supermassive black hole structure at the centre of galaxy M87. And it could do more in the future. Our technique could also be useful in other situations where data from multiple sensors are combined to map unknown structures -- such as medical imaging or mapping earthquakes.

Re: How you get image of black hole?

[alter-memo]

the black hole in the center itself is not visible, but is surrounded by an accretion disc of compressed dust and gas that heats up and shows up in the image.

Re:

[nospam007]

Beowulf Shaeffer took the photo from close by.

Re:How you get image of black hole?

[dbialac]

Humorous: Einstein's Theory of Relativity predicted something dealing with black holes when Einstein thought the idea of a black hole was ridiculous. It was Georges Lemaître, a catholic who laid out the idea that black holes existed and that the universe is expanding. So of all people, it was a Catholic priest who discredited Einstein.

Re:

[Aighearach]

because no light comes from it.

You don't.

You photograph it's "shadow" and lie.

And then you can just say, "I'd like to see you take a better picture!" and sign it with a very long string of letters after your name.

distance translation

[InternetGoblin]

"M87, about 55 million light-years away." In other words, "Here be dragons" land. Pictures and information like this, seen from thousands of years from the present, seem so quark. I mean quaint.

Re:

[OrangeTide]

the image is so pixelated because that's how many photons interacted with the detector

Re:

[OrangeTide]

correction - it was built with wave interferometry, so I don't get to count particles and have to deal with ugly math for interferometry that I don't know well enough to explain. :-/

Nice follow-up

[sound+vision]

Good to see someone following up on this, and it even being posted here. I vaguely remember the photo being taken, now those neurons will be burned in a bit stronger.