Scientists reveal the first-ever direct image of one of the most mysterious things in the universe, the black hole, which was previously unseen and considered to be non-observable. The supermassive black hole seen in the image released is a halo of dust and gas tracing the outline of the accretion discs of the monster body in the core of Messier 87 galaxy, some 55 million light years away from the earth. The black hole itself–a trapdoor from which nothing and absolutely nothing can escape– it is considered that black hole cannot be seen and only the shadowy edges of hot swirling clouds of gas, destined to be sucked in by the monster, are visible.
The breakthrough image unveil by a team of more than 200 scientists working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a network of eight radio telescopes spread from locations in Spain, Chile, Antarctica and other parts of the world. These images will bring revolution in our understanding of one of the most mysterious things in the universe.
The massive swirling clouds of dust and gas are rotating around the black hole at the speeds nearly approaching to that of light. The crescent-shaped appearance of the swirling disc is because the particles in the side of the disc are thrown towards earth faster and appear bright. The dark shadow within the disc is the “event horizon”― a point of singularity. Beyond this singularity point, there is no escape from the enormous gravitational pull of the supermassive black hole from which even the light cannot escape.
The research is also important because it tests the Einstein’s “theory of general relativity” which had predicted the presence of these massive sinkholes out there in the grand cosmos.
Muhammad Abdullah Khan has done bachelors in Chemistry from Government College University
Lahore. He is a science enthusiast and loves to read and write about astronomy, cosmology and latest
scientific endeavors.
