Washington University researcher takes part in constructing image of black hole at the center of our galaxy (LISTEN)

by | May 25, 2022 | News, Science / Technology, Show Me Today

For the first time in history, we are able to see a data-based image of the massive black hole at the heart of our galaxy.

Washington University research professor Micheal Nowak is part of a team of scientists around the world collecting this data about the star named Sagittarius-A, which is 24 thousand light-years away.

Nowak describes the powerful object as “a region of space-time where there is so much matter in so small an area that it is warping and bending space and time around it. And it’s warping and bending space and time around. It’s so much that any light that is within what we call its event horizon cannot escape and within that region, it looks dark.”

He said the collaboration used “facilities all around the world in Asia, South America, Antarctic other places. So it really did need people from all over to come together and cooperate to make this image. The problem is that these black holes in the sky are so small from our perspective, that it takes a very big telescope to see them through roughly equivalent to looking at a DVD sitting on the surface of the moon.”

LISTEN TO FULL INTERVIEW FROM SHOW ME TODAY (15:42)

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