The First Sighting of a Black Hole

Air and Space Magazine ^ | January, 2017 | Matthew R. Francis

[MtnClimber]

We know one lurks at the center of the Milky Way, but to these astronomers, seeing will be believing.

The center of the galaxy doesn’t look like much, even if you’re lucky enough to live in a place where the night sky is sufficiently dark to see the bands of the Milky Way. In visible light, the stars between here and there blur together into a single brilliant source, like a bright beam hiding the lighthouse behind it.

But in other types of radiation—radio waves, infrared, X-rays—astronomers have detected the presence of an object with the mass of four million suns packed into a region smaller than our solar system: a supermassive black hole.

Astronomers call it Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* (pronounced “sadge A star”) for short, because it’s located (from our point of view) in the Sagittarius constellation. Discovering the Milky Way’s black hole has helped cement the idea that the center of nearly every large galaxy harbors a supermassive black hole. But despite mounting evidence for black holes, we still haven’t seen one directly.

That may change very soon. Astronomers are about to begin an observing project that may result in what was once thought impossible: a picture of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

[SgtHooper]

Maybe, a Blasshole.

[samtheman]

Interesting article.

[Moonman62]

They should get a real image in April and it may be similar to the concept.

[Organic Panic]

That would be Moochelle’s vacation budget.

[TChad]

Good article.

But the most ambitious project focused on the galactic center is the Event Horizon Telescope, an enormous interferometer made from a dozen observatories stretching from Hawaii to the South Pole. The goal, when it comes online this spring, is to capture an image of Sgr A* with enough resolution to see the event horizon itself.

If they verify the event horizon, it's definitely a black hole.

[Rastus]

“Pew pew pew!”

[fruser1]

I did the same project for far less money using a homemade telescope and my iPhone.

Pic below:

[BraveMan]

I have a weird infatuation with Andrea Ghez . . .

[MtnClimber]

Will look forward to observations from the Event Horizon Telescope!

[buckalfa]

Wow, an astronomy / black hole thread without mention of the planet U-——.

[MtnClimber]

Wow, an astronomy / black hole thread without mention of the planet U-

I can fix that. I will mention the planet Ubama.

[Ace's Dad]

He's from Hawaii, and he's half-white, so he's a Black Haole

Well, maybe, in 2017 terms. I understand that today, it is a term of derision from Hawaiians about Caucasians. But it wasn't always that way. My uncle Burt, originally from Michigan, stayed in the Islands after his one enlistment in the Navy. He married a rich young woman who was half Hawaiian and half white; and lived on the Big Island (Hawaii). He told me that Haole meant a white man that had lived there a long time, and had acquired some kind of success. Their distinguishing uniform included a hat with a pheasant feather hatband. My Michigander father quickly adopted this custom, using feathers from pheasants he hunted every year. I've adopted the custom as well, now that thinning hair has forced me to wear a proper hat to "nice" places, like formal dinners, graduations and church services. So, to call the soon to be former president (may his name live in infamy) a Haole, is a misnomer, IMHO.