1st EVER full resolution photo of a supermassive black hole
Apr 14, 2023 2:52:52 GMT -5
Post by J.J.Gibbs on Apr 14, 2023 2:52:52 GMT -5
Scientists reveal the first EVER full resolution photo of a supermassive black hole: Incredible image shows M87 is like a 'skinny donut' - and could help to explain how the stellar phenomenon 'eats' matter
The black hole M87 sits at the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy, which is around 55million light-years from Earth
In 2019 the 'fuzzy, orange donut' became the first black hole to be directly imaged by astronomers
Now, scientists have released a full-resolution photo of the black hole, showing it is more of a 'skinny donut'
By SAM TONKIN FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 07:00 EDT, 13 April 2023 | UPDATED: 10:06 EDT, 13 April 2023
It is a thing of mesmerising beauty: humanity's first glimpse at the only full-resolution photo of a supermassive black hole ever produced.
This 'orange donut', as it has been dubbed, sits at the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy 55 million light-years from Earth and in 2019 became the first black hole to be directly imaged by astronomers.
Now, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning, it has received its first official makeover — and the results reveal that rather than being a 'fuzzy donut', it is actually more of a 'skinny donut'.
Scientists say this new perspective of the supermassive black hole will 'play a critical role in our ability to understand its behaviour' and could help explain how the stellar phenomenon 'eats' matter.
They called it a 'golden opportunity' to learn more about black hole physics.
The machine learning algorithm could also allow scientists to better study Sagittarius A* — the black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy.
WHAT ARE BLACK HOLES?
Black holes are so dense and their gravitational pull is so strong that no form of radiation can escape them - not even light.
They act as intense sources of gravity which hoover up dust and gas around them. Their intense gravitational pull is thought to be what stars in galaxies orbit around.
How they are formed is still poorly understood. Astronomers believe they may form when a large cloud of gas up to 100,000 times bigger than the sun collapses into a black hole.
Many of these black hole seeds then merge to form much larger supermassive black holes, which are found at the centre of every known massive galaxy.
Alternatively, a supermassive black hole seed could come from a giant star, about 100 times the Sun's mass, that ultimately forms into a black hole after it runs out of fuel and collapses.
When these giant stars die, they also go 'supernova', a huge explosion that expels the matter from the outer layers of the star into deep space.
Researchers said their full-resolution image of the M87 black hole had revealed a central region that is larger and darker than first thought, surrounded by a bright accreting gas shaped like a 'skinny donut'.
The width of the ring in the image was also found to be much smaller than previously believed.
Researchers produced the photo with the help of data from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT).
In 2017, the EHT used a network of seven pre-existing telescopes around the world to gather data on M87, effectively creating an 'Earth-sized telescope'.
However, because it is simply not possible to cover the Earth's entire surface with telescopes, gaps arise in the data — much like missing pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.
That is where their new AI trick comes into its own.
'With our new machine learning technique, PRIMO, we were able to achieve the maximum resolution of the current array,' said lead author Lia Medeiros, of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.
'Since we cannot study black holes up-close, the detail of an image plays a critical role in our ability to understand its behaviour.
'The width of the ring in the image is now smaller by about a factor of two, which will be a powerful constraint for our theoretical models and tests of gravity.'
The M87 black hole is estimated to be about 6.5billion times the mass of our sun and spewing out intense jets of energy.
These bright jets, which emerge from M87's core and extend at least 5,000 light-years from its centre, are one of the galaxy's most mysterious and energetic features.
Full story with pictures and video at link
The black hole M87 sits at the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy, which is around 55million light-years from Earth
In 2019 the 'fuzzy, orange donut' became the first black hole to be directly imaged by astronomers
Now, scientists have released a full-resolution photo of the black hole, showing it is more of a 'skinny donut'
By SAM TONKIN FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 07:00 EDT, 13 April 2023 | UPDATED: 10:06 EDT, 13 April 2023
It is a thing of mesmerising beauty: humanity's first glimpse at the only full-resolution photo of a supermassive black hole ever produced.
This 'orange donut', as it has been dubbed, sits at the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy 55 million light-years from Earth and in 2019 became the first black hole to be directly imaged by astronomers.
Now, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning, it has received its first official makeover — and the results reveal that rather than being a 'fuzzy donut', it is actually more of a 'skinny donut'.
Scientists say this new perspective of the supermassive black hole will 'play a critical role in our ability to understand its behaviour' and could help explain how the stellar phenomenon 'eats' matter.
They called it a 'golden opportunity' to learn more about black hole physics.
The machine learning algorithm could also allow scientists to better study Sagittarius A* — the black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy.
WHAT ARE BLACK HOLES?
Black holes are so dense and their gravitational pull is so strong that no form of radiation can escape them - not even light.
They act as intense sources of gravity which hoover up dust and gas around them. Their intense gravitational pull is thought to be what stars in galaxies orbit around.
How they are formed is still poorly understood. Astronomers believe they may form when a large cloud of gas up to 100,000 times bigger than the sun collapses into a black hole.
Many of these black hole seeds then merge to form much larger supermassive black holes, which are found at the centre of every known massive galaxy.
Alternatively, a supermassive black hole seed could come from a giant star, about 100 times the Sun's mass, that ultimately forms into a black hole after it runs out of fuel and collapses.
When these giant stars die, they also go 'supernova', a huge explosion that expels the matter from the outer layers of the star into deep space.
Researchers said their full-resolution image of the M87 black hole had revealed a central region that is larger and darker than first thought, surrounded by a bright accreting gas shaped like a 'skinny donut'.
The width of the ring in the image was also found to be much smaller than previously believed.
Researchers produced the photo with the help of data from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT).
In 2017, the EHT used a network of seven pre-existing telescopes around the world to gather data on M87, effectively creating an 'Earth-sized telescope'.
However, because it is simply not possible to cover the Earth's entire surface with telescopes, gaps arise in the data — much like missing pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.
That is where their new AI trick comes into its own.
'With our new machine learning technique, PRIMO, we were able to achieve the maximum resolution of the current array,' said lead author Lia Medeiros, of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.
'Since we cannot study black holes up-close, the detail of an image plays a critical role in our ability to understand its behaviour.
'The width of the ring in the image is now smaller by about a factor of two, which will be a powerful constraint for our theoretical models and tests of gravity.'
The M87 black hole is estimated to be about 6.5billion times the mass of our sun and spewing out intense jets of energy.
These bright jets, which emerge from M87's core and extend at least 5,000 light-years from its centre, are one of the galaxy's most mysterious and energetic features.
Full story with pictures and video at link
