"astronomers are preparing to capture a movie of a supermassive black hole in action for the first time, in observations that could help reveal another side to these elusive and perhaps misunderstood space objects. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) will track the colossal black hole at the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy throughout March and April with the aim of capturing footage of the swirling disc that traces out the edge of the event horizon,"
"founding member of the EHT consortium. Sera Markoff, newly appointed Plumian professor of astronomy at Cambridge University and a founding member of the EHT consortium. Photograph: Tina Korhonen We may be able to get a better handle on the speed that the black hole is rotating and the way black holes launch jets, both of which are major outstanding questions in our field."
The Event Horizon Telescope will observe the supermassive black hole in Messier 87 throughout March and April to capture a movie of the swirling accretion disc at the event horizon. The campaign is revolutionary, technologically challenging, and expected to accelerate scientific progress by an order of magnitude. The observations aim to constrain the black hole's rotation rate and the mechanisms that launch relativistic jets, both major outstanding questions. Black holes influence galaxy formation and evolution and are increasingly recognised as central to cosmic ecosystems. The EHT is a global network of 12 radio telescopes that produced the first black-hole image in 2019.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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