Research Highlights
Here we show recent research results from the Radio Astronomy/Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry department.
EHT Image of the Black Hole in SgrA* - MPIfR scientists tell the story
Special episode of RadioViews!
This time we have insight information, emotional thoughts, and exciting scientific news collected by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration members at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany. It has been a great, devoting journey since Sagittarius A* was observed by the EHT in 2017. Our colleagues tell their side of the story.
Created by Joana A. Kramer & Luca Ricci, MPI für Radiastronomie
This time we have insight information, emotional thoughts, and exciting scientific news collected by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration members at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany. It has been a great, devoting journey since Sagittarius A* was observed by the EHT in 2017. Our colleagues tell their side of the story.
Created by Joana A. Kramer & Luca Ricci, MPI für Radiastronomie
Astronomers reveal first image of the black hole at the heart of our galaxy - Event Horizon Telescope Official Press Release
Astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside at the centre of most galaxies. The image was produced by a global research team called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, using observations from a worldwide network of radio telescopes.
Astronomers reveal first image of the black hole at the heart of our galaxy - European Southern Observatory Official Press Release
Today, at simultaneous press conferences around the world, including at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) headquarters in Germany, astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside at the centre of most galaxies. The image was produced by a global research team called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, using observations from a worldwide network of radio telescopes.
Press Conference at ESO on new Milky Way results from the EHT team, followed by a public Q&A event
On 12 May at 15:00 CEST, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project held a press conference to present groundbreaking Milky Way results from the EHT.
The ESO Director General delivered the opening words. EHT Project Director Huib Jan van Langevelde and EHT Collaboration Board Founding Chair Anton Zensus delivered remarks. A panel of EHT researchers including Thomas P. Krichbaum (MPIfR) and Christian Fromm (Univ. Würzburg, also affiliated with the MPIfR) explained the result and answer questions from journalists.
Following the press conference, at 16:30 CEST ESO hosted an online event for the public via this same streaming link: a live question and answer session where members of the public will have the opportunity to query another panel of EHT experts (which include also Michael Janssen from the MPIfR).
The ESO Director General delivered the opening words. EHT Project Director Huib Jan van Langevelde and EHT Collaboration Board Founding Chair Anton Zensus delivered remarks. A panel of EHT researchers including Thomas P. Krichbaum (MPIfR) and Christian Fromm (Univ. Würzburg, also affiliated with the MPIfR) explained the result and answer questions from journalists.
Following the press conference, at 16:30 CEST ESO hosted an online event for the public via this same streaming link: a live question and answer session where members of the public will have the opportunity to query another panel of EHT experts (which include also Michael Janssen from the MPIfR).
Selected press coverage
For the German-speaking reporting, go to our area in German language.
The Milky Way’s Black Hole Comes to Light, The New York Times (Dennis Overbye), 12 May 2022
The Event Horizon Telescope has once again caught sight of the “unseeable.”
The history of Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, Astronomy.com, Paul Sutter, 12 May 2022
Lifting the dusty veil of the Milky Way's core has taken nearly a century.
See The Jaw-Dropping First Image Of The Black Hole At The Heart Of Our Galaxy Just Revealed By Astronomers, Forbes (Jamie Carter), 12 May 2022
The first ever image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy has been published by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). It comes from the same team of over 300 international scientists who produced the first ever image of a black hole in another galaxy in 2019.
Svelata la prima immagine del buco nero al centro della Via Lattea, La Repubblica (Matteo Marini), 12 May 2022
Sagittarius A* si trova al centro della nostra galassia, l’oggetto supermassiccio più vicino a noi. Il team internazionale dell’Eht ha mostrato il frutto di cinque anni di lavoro: “È un’ulteriore conferma della Relatività di Einstein”
Captan la primera imagen del agujero negro de nuestra galaxia, Sagitario A*, probando su existencia, El Mundo (Ángel Díaz & Teresa Guerrero), 12 May 2022
Sagitario A, el agujero negro supermasivo de la Vía Láctea, tiene una masa estimada de unos cuatro millones de soles, y se encuentra a 26.000 años luz
Primera imagen de Sagitario A*, el agujero negro del centro de la Vía Láctea, La Vanguardia (Josep Corbella), 12 May 2022
Las observaciones del astro central de nuestra galaxia confirman las predicciones de Albert Einstein
What you need to know about the Sagittarius A* black hole photo, BBC (Sara Rigby), 16 May 2022
The Event Horizon Telescope is back with another stunning image of a supermassive black hole, this time of the one within our very own Galaxy.
First-ever image of the black hole ‘shadow’ at the heart of the Milky Way revealed by the Event Horizon Telescope, Physics Workd, 12 May 2022
Astronomers working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) have captured the first image of the “shadow” – and glowing surroundings – of the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The achievement is another huge success for the EHT project, which in 2019 released a similar image of the black hole in the core of the galaxy Messier-87.