Scientific Discovery In Astronomy

A team of astronomers from around the world might have stumbled upon viewing a black holes shadow. However, they are still unsure if what they have been observing is indeed a black hole shadow. That’s why they have created this collaboration team, the Event Horizon Telescope. They want to create an image which has a high level of scientific coordination that combines data from telescopes at eight observatories, ranging from the South Pole to Hawaii, to the Atacama Desert in Chile.

According to the Einstein’s Shadow, EHT director Shep Doeleman of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics says the project is “the biggest telescope in the history of humanity,” EHT have combined far-flung radio telescopes. This is through a technique called very long baseline interferometry, which unites light waves spotted by each telescope to factor how the light adds up, through a process called interference. By utilizing this technique, EHT will be able to get a high resolution. This type of capability is what is required for taking a picture of a black hole that’s near the Milky Way.

This data was first captured in 2006, but since then, they haven’t made much progress. However, in April 2017, after they added more telescopes and better technology, starting to get better results. EHT manage to capture a picture of the silhouette of the Milky Way’s central black hole.

All in all, EHT are still unsure if they are looking at a black hole because no one has actually seen one. The image that they are observing seems to be emitting strange behavior that exhibits a black hole. For example, there is a boundary known as an event horizon which is believed to exist at the edge of each black hole. Nothing can escape from this border. EHT is trying to capture this image.