The Results from the Event Horizon Telescope are ready

LETA

4☆babbler
Staff
o43quPd.jpg

Image: Event Horizon Telescope

We are about to view the shadow of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way for the first time in history. The Event Horizon collab submitted the paper for peer-review, and now are ready to present the results to the public. A conference scheduled for Wednesday will finally reveal whether the strong field regime matches the predictions of general relativity. Exciting times ahead. The Black hole that we have in our home page is one of several models of wut a black hole should look like.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fish
So the strong field regime will confirm (hopefully) the whole curved space, idea then?
And I understand what is meant by the causal disconnection once you cross the event horizon, but I don't follow what is meant when they say that Space and Time flow towards the singularity. I know space time are connected, in that you can't have one without the other. But space is a location, as is the singularity at the center of a black hole, so I get how space could flow towards a singularity if space is bent by massive gravity.
But I don't get how time can flow towards a location in space? Ins't time the one directional movement through a series of snapshots of a state of the universe. I mean it is a state, not a location. So how does a state move towards a location?

I hope I asked that in a way that makes sense?
 
  • Like
Reactions: LETA
I have invited Thomas Morrison to this thread so he can explain it better since he is a GR expert :cool:
Awesome, can't wait. My hats of to you scientists. In my hunting today trying to get my head round it bit I found a PDF with what was apparently a summary, of key points, simplified it said.

Well It was like reading the Voynich manuscript. So it would be great to have it explained in understandable terms.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LETA
Wow does not cover it. but...wow, very cool
Spectacular results, Dundee. Although, we were expecting an image from Sagittarius A star, the black hole at the centre of our galaxy, not from M87. A few astrophysicists on twitta were not happy about this... switcheroo :(. Anyways, the image is awesome and you can get an idea of how big this shadow is in comparison to our solar system:

10boSmi.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fish and Dundee
Most bhs at the centre of galaxies are about this size due to a lifetime of succulent meals and mergers with other bhs
I wonder ho close you could get and still escape the pull of gravity with the tech we have today. Obviously if we could get there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fish and LETA
I wonder ho close you could get and still escape the pull of gravity with the tech we have today. Obviously if we could get there.
That black hole is fairly large so tidal gravity is minimal. You can hover above the event horizon and not get sucked in. The radiation from the accretion disc would fry you, tho :oops:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fish and Dundee
Spectacular results, Dundee. Although, we were expecting an image from Sagittarius A star, the black hole at the centre of our galaxy, not from M87. A few astrophysicists on twitta were not happy about this... switcheroo :(. Anyways, the image is awesome and you can get an idea of how big this shadow is in comparison to our solar system:

10boSmi.jpg
Wow thats big
 
I thought it might be interesting to listen to the sound of a black hole.
The best I found was the sound of two black holes colliding.
Two videos here with some cool sounds from planets as a bonus.
The Black Hole sounds are at the end of the first one.
Sounds like the last one of video 2, two neutron stars colliding.
My favourites ar the sounds of Saturn and Interstellar Space.