The first image of a black hole, Courtesy Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration
After years of theorization, Black Holes have finally been brought into the light. Humanity has finally figured out a way to capture these behemoth star devouring forces of gravity in the form of a photograph thanks to the efforts of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project. Four photos in total were released last week, showing for the first time the outline of the event horizon (the boundary around a black hole beyond which no light or other radiation can escape), of the supermassive black hole at the center of the elliptical galaxy M87.
The idea of the existence of a black hole was first conjured up by John Michell of England and Pierre-Simon Laplace of France. Utilizing Newton’s Laws in the late 1790s, they independently proposed the existence of an “invisible star.” Then In 1915, Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicted the presence of black holes.
The blurry disc in the image obtained by those members of the EHT project may seem somewhat insignificant given it’s obscurity, but it has finally given humankind tangible evidence of the existence of what we think we know to be one of the most, if not the most, destructive forces in the Universe. While this is interesting on the surface, what does it mean for those of us who aren’t astrophysicists?
What’s worth noting, is that we are witnessing science fiction come to life, just as we did when we received the renowned Earthrise photo captured by an Apollo 8 astronaut in 1968. Amidst all of our human progress and conflict, we stare into the eye of something much bigger than us.
Human progress has been marked by such encounters before; our first attempts at flight, to air combat and lunar rockets. These milestones constantly shifted the paradigms of our Earthly perspective. We know that the scientists who captured this photo have no plans to stop here. We will only know more about these cosmic beasts in our lifetime – and that is something truly incredible.
This is the nature of scientific revolution; however large or small, paradigm shift happens and suddenly we know more than we did yesterday. We further uncover the darkest depths of our reality, and hurdle ever faster toward a deeper understanding of our own tiny place in the Universe.
May you have a week of discovery!
Lisa
LMA Newsletter of 4-15-19
