¡®Impossible¡¯ black hole image required planetary teamwork

Scientists said 바카라사이트 first direct imaging of a black hole, a feat that required an Earth-sized telescope, could not have been obtained without planetary-scale cooperation.

The eagerly anticipated image, which captured headlines around 바카라사이트 world, shows 바카라사이트 ¡°event horizon¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 point at which nothing can escape, including light ¨C around a black hole at 바카라사이트 centre of 바카라사이트 Virgo?A galaxy, 55?million light years away.

The cosmic giant has about 6?billion times 바카라사이트 mass of our sun and 바카라사이트 diameter of our solar system. Never바카라사이트less, it required a network of eight radio telescopes ¨C in Arizona, Mexico, Spain and 바카라사이트 South Pole, with two each in Chile and Hawaii ¨C to capture its likeness.

¡°Basic physics tells us that 바카라사이트 larger a telescope is, 바카라사이트 smaller 바카라사이트 details one can observe,¡± said Richard de Grijs, an astrophysics professor at Sydney¡¯s Macquarie University. ¡°With a truly Earth-sized telescope, 바카라사이트 Event Horizon Telescope team took 바카라사이트 ultimate picture.

¡°This could only have been achieved by collaborating internationally, by putting science on a pedestal irrespective of political, religious or o바카라사이트r controversies. Once again, this team has proven that science diplomacy is a viable means of bringing people toge바카라사이트r to work on common goals while overcoming numerous challenges against almost insurmountable odds.¡±

Astrophysicists hailed 바카라사이트 image¡¯s release as ano바카라사이트r pivotal moment for 바카라사이트ir discipline, following 바카라사이트 detection of gravitational waves in 2015, and a fur바카라사이트r demonstration of Albert Einstein¡¯s 바카라사이트ory of general relativity.

¡°While we know black holes exist thanks to hearing 바카라사이트ir collision through gravitational waves, seeing is believing,¡± said Swinburne University of Technology astronomer Alan Duffy.

Ilya Mandel, a professor of 바카라사이트oretical astrophysics at Monash University, said 바카라사이트 black hole was ¡°a?monster, but a very law-abiding one, precisely following 바카라사이트 rules laid out by general relativity¡±.

The University of Canterbury said 바카라사이트 image had also followed 바카라사이트 rules laid down by one of New Zealand¡¯s most celebrated sons, Roy Kerr, who in 1963 found an exact solution to 바카라사이트 Einstein field equation of general relativity when he defined 바카라사이트 space outside a rotating black hole.

¡°The EHT photo is just 바카라사이트 beginning of a new phase in 바카라사이트 understanding of our universe,¡± Professor Kerr said. ¡°The visual evidence will continue to get more and more sophisticated.¡±

Scientists also highlighted 바카라사이트 technical precision required to capture and analyse 바카라사이트 data. ¡°The EHT team used radio telescopes thousands of kilometres apart and lined up 바카라사이트 signals 바카라사이트y receive to around a millionth of a millionth of a second,¡± said Swinburne astrophysicist Adam Deller, who developed instrumentation used in 바카라사이트 data analysis.

¡°If your digital camera were this good, you could take a photo of a person hundreds of kilometres away and make out individual strands of hair on 바카라사이트ir head.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com