EU-funded scientists unveil first ever image of a black hole
The European Commission revealed on April 10 the first ever image of a black hole taken by Event Horizon Telescope, a global scientific collaboration involving EU-funded scientists.
“This major discovery provides visual evidence for the existence of black holes and pushes the boundaries of modern science,” the Commission said.
The first ever observation of a black hole is the result of the large scale international research collaboration Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), where EU-funded researchers have played a key role.
“This major scientific achievement marks a paradigm shift in our understanding of black holes, confirms the predictions of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and opens up new lines of enquiry into our universe,” the statement said.
European Commissioner Carlos Moedas, responsible for Research, Science, and Innovation, said: “Fiction often inspires science, and black holes have long fuelled our dreams and curiosity.
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Today, thanks to the contribution of European scientists, the existence of black holes is no longer just a theoretical concept. This amazing discovery proves again how working together with partners around the world can lead to achieving the unthinkable and moving the horizons of our knowledge.”
President of the European Research Council (ERC), Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, said: “I congratulate the scientists across the globe who made this inspiring discovery and pushed the frontiers of our knowledge.
“I’m especially glad to see that scientists funded by the European Research Council contributed decisively to this breakthrough. The EU’s bold approach to funding such paradigm-shifting blue-sky research leads once more to a success story. It also further validates the ERC’s objective to fund high-risk/high-gain research.”
Black holes are extremely compressed cosmic objects, containing incredible amounts of mass within a tiny region. Their presence affects their surroundings in extreme ways, by warping spacetime and super-heating any material falling into it.
The captured image reveals the black hole at the centre of Messier 87, a massive galaxy in the constellation of Virgo. This black hole is located 55 million light-years from Earth and has a mass 6.5-billion times larger than our sun.
To allow the direct observation of a black hole’s immediate environment, the Event Horizon Telescope has sought to upgrade and connect a worldwide network of eight telescopes across the globe.
These are at challenging high-altitude sites, including in the Spanish Sierra Nevada, volcanoes in Hawaii and Mexico, mountains in Arizona, the Chilean Atacama Desert, and Antarctica. More than 200 researchers from Europe, Americas and East Asia are participating in this major international operation.
(Photo via EC Audiovisual Service)
