Tim_N
2888
It’s an amazing image to look at, but not in the same way as e.g. the recent hq images of pluto. More in the sense that it represents a staggering achievement for our species, which considering the state of the world we really need to see things like this to keep faith.
Ya, I wasn’t trying to be too flippant. It’s truly amazing. Even in its fuzziness you can see a freaking black hole!
That’s the black hole at Messier 87, too! That’s not the black hole in the center of our galaxy. This black hole is 55 million light years away!!!
Menzo
2891
It wasn’t that long ago, certainly in my lifetime, that even the existence of black holes was debated. Now not only can we see them directly, but we can see that most of the theories about how they work have been proven correct.
Pretty amazing.
If you missed the live stream and are watching the replay the actual event starts at 33 minutes.
Picture reveal at 40:34, link to a half minute before that.
The two black holes imaged are vastly different in distance, but also vastly different in size, such that their angular size is about the same. That angular size is roughly the same as a tennis ball… on the Moon. Quite an achievement.
marquac
2894
It’s a pretty cool accomplishment. I wish Hawking would have lived long enough to see a black hole.
I sadly had to run off and do work stuff before I could catch the whole press event. Thus far, I’ve only seen an image of M87; did they also release an image of Sagittarius A?
I spent most of class today in astronomy talking about this - it really is a historical moment in science. Those interested in what they’re really seeing in that image should take a look at the Veritasium video posted up thread, which does such a good job of explaining it I showed it in class today.
No image of Sgr A* yet, though presumably one will be along in awhile since they’ve also been observing that object.
Menzo
2899
Super helpful video describing why the image looks like it does. It was even made before the image was released and is still accurate.
That was linked upthread, but it’s good enough to post twice. As mentioned above, I showed it to my intro astro class today I liked it so much.
The moment the image finally processed on Dr. Bouman’s computer:
kerzain
2903
I wonder if she’ll be the one of the few selected to receive the Nobel Prize for the project.
PSA: SpaceX falcon heavy launching VERY SOON (either 1 or 2 hours)
https://www.spacex.com/webcast
Menzo
2905
Latest estimate is closer to 5:30 pacific time due to winds.
