Science

How Do You Take a Picture of a Black Hole?

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Based on the episode description, not a full transcript. Source evidence retrieved 29/10/2026, 10:29:23 UTC.

Briefings

A 2026 podcast episode explains how the Event Horizon Telescope, a global network of 250 researchers, captured the first images of supermassive black holes in M87 and our galaxy. Host Shep Doeleman details the technical challenges of using Earth-based radio telescopes to create an image of a black hole's shadow, highlighting the unprecedented collaboration required. The episode notes that while the images confirm theoretical predictions, they do not fully explain the black hole's interior, and future movies of black holes may appear in the early 2030s.

Key points

• The Event Horizon Telescope network, comprising 250 researchers, successfully produced the first images of supermassive black holes in M87 and our galaxy.
• The images reveal the black hole's shadow rather than the event horizon itself, and the interior remains unexplained by current observations.

Context

This podcast episode features Harvard astrophysicist Shep Doeleman and co-host Janna Levin discussing the Event Horizon Telescope's achievement. The findings are significant for testing general relativity and understanding the nature of black holes, though the interior remains a mystery. Future visualizations of black holes are expected in the early 2030s.

Limitations

The episode relies on a single podcast transcript. Specific dates for the image release are not provided, and the exact light-years distance for M87 is not specified. The interior of the black holes is not described, and the timeline for future movies is not confirmed.

Generated by Bittrees-hosted qwen35-2b sha256:aaf42c8b7c3c on 29/10/2026, 10:30:34 UTC. Based on publisher-provided feed evidence; may not cover the full original article. Check the source for details.

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