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It's Here: The First Ever Photo Of A Black Hole

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The first-ever image of a black hole was released Wednesday. (Courtesy: Event Horizon Telescope collaboration et al.)
The first-ever image of a black hole was released Wednesday. (Courtesy: Event Horizon Telescope collaboration et al.)

A team of over 200 astronomers, including scientists from MIT’s Haystack Observatory, has — for the first time — captured direct images of a black hole.

Among other implications, by capturing the image "we now know clearly that black holes drive large-scale structure in the universe," said Shep Doeleman, a researcher on the Event Horizon Telescope team that's responsible for the breakthrough.

Guests

Vincent Fish, research scientist at the MIT Haystack Observatory. He is also a member of the science council on the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration.

Marcia Bartusiak, science writer, professor of Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of "Black Hole: How an Idea Abandoned by Newtonians, Hated by Einstein, and Gambled on by Hawkin​g Became Loved." She tweets @CosmosGal.

This segment aired on April 10, 2019.

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