Scientists capture first image of a black hole!!

[Asbo Zaprudder]

What is the bandwidth of that?

Analog TV bandwidth was about 6 MHz back then. Digital compression and other technological improvements are available now, of course.

NASA has tested up to 622 Mbps comms between the Earth and the Moon.

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme...22-mbps-laser-link-between-the-earth-and-moon

There are plans to support a data rate of up to 1.25 Gbps.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Analog TV bandwidth was about 6 MHz back then. Digital compression and other technological improvements are available now, of course.

NASA has tested up to 622 Mbps comms between the Earth and the Moon.

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme...22-mbps-laser-link-between-the-earth-and-moon

That translates to a couple of TB per month? The Data we are talking about is in the PT range. Still doesn’t sound practical to me.

 

[Refuge]

Hmm looks like

Spoiler

the eye of sauron

Oh how disappointing. It looks like a doughnut or worse... photoshopped.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Oh how disappointing. It looks like a doughnut or worse... photoshopped.

What did you expect?
This is a lot better than other first pictures in astronomy.

Remember what Pluto used to look like to us? It was just a number of pixels you could count on both hands.

The point is that it‘s possible to image a freakin black hole!!!

 

[Jim Klag]

Oh how disappointing. It looks like a doughnut or worse... photoshopped.

A photograph of something 55,000,000 light years away from Earth is a miracle of science and is in no way disappointing. That light that was captured began its journey across the universe just after the dinosaurs disappeared from earth (and our ancestors looked like mice). I wonder what the black hole looks like now.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

That translates to a couple of TB per month? The Data we are talking about is in the PT range. Still doesn’t sound practical to me.

You need a better calculator.

With error correction, 1.25 Gbps is about 150 MB/s, 9 GB per minute, 1 TB every 2 hours or 360 TB per month. In addition to preprocessing and compression, one might also be able to use multiple wavelengths and different polarisations in parallel to increase the bandwidth.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

A photograph of something 55,000,000 light years away from Earth is a miracle of science and is in no way disappointing. That light that was captured began its journey across the universe just after the dinosaurs disappeared from earth (and our ancestors looked like mice). I wonder what the black hole looks like now.

There is no such thing as a universal "now" according to Special Relativity. What you measure as now depends on your frame of reference.

 

[Jim Klag]

There is no such thing as a universal "now" according to Special Relativity. What you measure as now depends on your frame of reference.

Understood. My frame of reference "now" is my recliner, watching Golic & Wingo on ESPN and yakking on TrekBBS about black holes. BTW, it is amazing that after 114 years, Special Relativity is still being "Proved".

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Understood. My frame of reference "now" is my recliner, watching Golic & Wingo on ESPN and yakking on TrekBBS about black holes. BTW, it is amazing that after 104 years, Special Relativity is still being "Proved".

Of course, nothing is ever proved in the scientific method. The best we can do is to attempt to falsify through prediction and experiment. However, despite many other empirical tests, there are people who insist on alternative interpretations of the Lorentz transformations implied by the Michelson-Morley experiment.

 

[Jim Klag]

Of course, nothing is ever proved in the scientific method.

Hence the quotes around proved in my post.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Is that a visual light photo or an X ray light photo? I wouldn't expect the disc to be red, unless something red behind it is lensing.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Hence the quotes around proved in my post.

Indeed. I was being a bit anal.

The black hole in M87 will probably be pretty much the same in 55 million years time. A little more massive, certainly, even if all it has to feed on is CMB radiation, which is much warmer than the hole's effective temperature. It will probably be one of the last black holes in the universe to evaporate unless the posited Big Rip gets it first.

 

[XCV330]

Oh how disappointing. It looks like a doughnut or worse... photoshopped.

That's the accretion disk of one of the most exotic and bizarre objects in the universe: a supermassive black hole. You can't see a black hole. I never thought we'd see even an image like this in my lifetime. I thought you mostly stuck to being negative about 70's sitcoms and that sort of thing. Anyway, this image is historic. Your opinions are noted.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Katie Bouman is the young lady who spearheaded the creation of the image.

https://imgur.com/gallery/dRjykty

 

[Amaris]

A photograph of something 55,000,000 light years away from Earth is a miracle of science and is in no way disappointing. That light that was captured began its journey across the universe just after the dinosaurs disappeared from earth (and our ancestors looked like mice). I wonder what the black hole looks like now.

I bet it's grown a mustache.

Seriously, though, this is just amazing. I never thought I would see a real image of Pluto, and now we're seeing an actual black hole.

 

[TrickyDickie]

What you measure as now depends on your frame of reference.

Seriously, very true. But, still inevitably reminds me of this:

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[Asbo Zaprudder]

If the black hole is rotating fast enough, there's the possibility of a naked ring singularity (or whatever real Physics allows in its place).

ETA: In quantum loop gravity, ring singularities might emit radiation as they're not hidden behind an event horizon although there should be significant gravitational redshifting. I believe the angular momentum J of the black hole has to exceed GM^2/c for a naked singularity to become visible. (Specifically, (J/Mc)^2 has to be greater than (GM/c^2)^2.)

 

[DanGussin]

The accretion disk appears to vary in Temperature and density. I would have thought it would be more even in appearance. Could there be more matter entering the disk from one area than another?

 

[Jim Klag]

The accretion disk appears to vary in Temperature and density. I would have thought it would be more even in appearance. Could there be more matter entering the disk from one area than another?

My guess is that it is not exactly perpendicular - the top is farther away than the bottom. That's why the hole appears elliptical instead of perfectly round. Also, allow a little distortion due to less than perfect resolution. More array elements in the future will improve resolution.

 

[DanGussin]

My guess is that it is not exactly perpendicular - the top is farther away than the bottom. That's why the hole appears elliptical instead of perfectly round. Also, allow a little distortion due to less than perfect resolution. More array elements in the future will improve resolution.

Good points - Do we know if this black hole has the jets of energy that have been seen with other Black holes? That might also cause some distortion as well. Cant wait for the papers.