Today, scientists have made history by revealing the first-ever photograph of a Black Hole, as captured by the Event Horizon Telescope. The photograph, which features a beautiful, burning orange light surrounding a dark circle, is described as being a "black hole's silhouette." While black holes have long been theorized, and accepted as reality by the scientific community, this photograph marks the first piece of physical evidence toward their existence.
Speaking during a Washington briefing, Harvard astronomer and Event Horizon Telescope project director Sheperd Doeleman opened up about the breakthrough. Here it is. This is the strongest evidence that we have to date for the existence of black holes," Doeleman stated, before passing the floor to Netherlands astronomer Heino Falcke. " "For 25 years this was always a dream, a fiction, an expectation," said Falcke. "I have seen many beautiful, detailed images of black holes — but all were just simulations. This one is so precious, so beautiful, because it is real."
The black hole as captured in the photograph is located in a galaxy called Messier 87, which is about 55 million light-years from us Earthlings. Projections claim it's larger than the sun by "billions." If this wasn't enough to get your excitement going, Doeleman promised that there's more to come. Congratulations to everyone involved in making this historical discovery happen.
