Imaging black holes: a VLBI success story
Abstract
Advances in Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) have enabled, for the first time, horizon-scale images of the two most accessible supermassive black hole candidates: M87* at the centre of the elliptical galaxy Messier 87 and Sgr A* at the centre of the Milky Way. These images reveal ring-like emission surrounding central brightness depressions whose angular sizes are consistent with the black-hole signatures predicted by general relativity. The theoretical framework and early predictions of observable black hole signatures, developed from the 1970s onward, established the scientific motivation and defined the instrumental requirements for this endeavour. Achieving the required angular resolution and sensitivity demanded transformational enhancements to existing VLBI arrays, pursued along two complementary paths: space VLBI, extending baselines beyond the Earth, and mm-VLBI, observing at the shortest accessible radio wavelengths from the ground. The latter strategy, realised through the addition of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array to a global network of mm-wavelength telescopes, advances in receiver technology, data processing, and image reconstruction methods, and the formation of an international collaboration, yielded the first images of the predicted black hole shadows. This established the observational foundation for a broad programme of follow-up studies.
Read the paper
Related studies
- A Survey on Knowledge Graphs: Representation, Acquisition, and Applications
- Toxicity of nanomaterials
- The Human Gene Mutation Database: towards a comprehensive repository of inherited mutation data for medical research, genetic diagnosis and next-generation sequencing studies
- Halogen bonding (X‐bonding): A biological perspective
- Biofilm formation at the air–liquid interface by the Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 wrinkly spreader requires an acetylated form of cellulose
- Opioid Activation of Toll-Like Receptor 4 Contributes to Drug Reinforcement
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.