How Our Galaxy's Supermassive Black Hole was Imaged

Sagittarius A* - Our Supermassive Black Hole Revealed! To get started for free, visit brilliant.org/launchpadastronomy . The first 200 of you will get 20% off Brilliant's annual premium subscription.
00:00 Our Supermassive Black Hole Revealed!
01:09 What do the colors mean?
02:07 Why is it blurry?
03:00 How the Event Horizon Telescope works
06:34 Why was it so hard to image Sgr A*?
09:08 Imaging the black hole with all of that variability
10:29 What are we actually seeing in the image?
16:15 What are those three blobs of light?
17:00 Next Steps for EHT - movies!
17:45 Next-Generation Event Horizon Telescope for higher-resolution
18:26 Learn this stuff at Brilliant.org!
19:16 Thanks and welcome new Patrons
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🧭 References:
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~-~~-~~~-~~-~
Watch next: Solar Orbiter Discovers Surprising new Phenomenon in the Sun
• Solar Orbiter Discover...
~-~~-~~~-~~-~

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

🔴 Full breakdown of the original EHT image of M87* : kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGOleZeoobp0hbc

[@supersean0837]

Wonderful

[@bimmjim]

YOGA fixes my BACK. No Meds; no side effects.

[@pat8988]

If the axis is pointed at earth, then we should be worried if a jet forms. Wouldn’t that sterilize any planet passes in front of it?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

It would depend on the distance and on whether or not the black hole was launching a jet. Our black hole is jet free at the moment. Cheers!

[@Mr41297]

To LPA - I really appreciate your longer breakdown of the images. This is the most comprehensive explanation I have seen. Top tier content

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you very much, I'm so glad you enjoyed the video!

[@sigfreed11]

I second that! I watched several videos about this image and I’ll only recommend people to watch this one, others are not nearly as well rounded and easy to digest. I’ll be coming back for more!

[@metiusabt2581]

I totally agree and appreciate your explanations a lot!

[@nilsp9426]

Exactly, these explanations are amazingly clear and comprehensive for laypeople like me. As someone who is teaching myself I know how hard and effortful this is to achieve. Great content!

[@salmaniqbal6091]

Some Questions are really bothering me a lot Why don't we send a telescope on Mars ( telescope orbiting Mars similar to a satellite ) in the same way as hubble orbits earth? Why don't we send telescopes to orbit Uranus and Neptune? Why don't we send a telescope like james webb ( For Example LUVOIR ) on Sun Mars Langrange point, Sun Jupiter Langrange point, Sun Uranus langrange point or Sun Neptune Langrange point..? If we do this.... We will be at a great advantage .... i.e., Away from the Sun hence less time and less fuel required to cool the telescope's instruments, Neptune and Uranus are Cold Planets, The Larger orbits of these planets gives a larger parallax thereby reducing the error in calculating distances.... This can even become an event horizon Telescope of the Aperture Size of the Whole Solar System ... ( Just Imagine the picture resolution of M87 blackhole released by Event horizon telescope of the Aperture size of the Solar System)

[@CroissantCreates]

Imagine being a photon that travels halfway across a galaxy and gets recognized by our technology and translated into images flourishing around the world. Crazy

[@Jesse-cw5pv]

From the photons perspective it didnt move. Traveling at the speed of light the exact instant the photo left across the galaxy is the same instant it arrived. Not a .001 second journey, but a 0 second journey. There is no traveling from the photons perspective. At 100% the speed of light the distance from here to the other end of the universe is 0 and it would take 0 time for the photons perspective to reach across the universe. So... i dont think you can imagine the photons perspective

[@istvansipos9940]

and some photons get absorbed on an ugly person's fat ass, giving it a tiny little dose of tan. not all photons are created equal :- )

[@DrDeuteron]

@@Jesse-cw5pv not exactly...the ionosphere has an index of refraction for microwave, so the slowed a bit at the end. For regular light in air, the Lorentz factor is around 42.

[@brianmessemer2973]

@@Jesse-cw5pv The speed of causality 😎

[@p382742937423y4]

You had me at: Imagine being a photon

[@LAMinds]

Thank you for paraphrasing the “Dark Star” lyrics in your intro. It’s those kinds of references that make your shows so enjoyable!

[@jaynguyen6800]

Your explanations are, for some reason, much easier to comprehend and digest compared to other channels on KZbin. Thank you for your videos, Christian.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you so much!

[@salmaniqbal6091]

Some Questions are really bothering me a lot Why don't we send a telescope on Mars ( telescope orbiting Mars similar to a satellite ) in the same way as hubble orbits earth? Why don't we send telescopes to orbit Uranus and Neptune? Why don't we send a telescope like james webb ( For Example LUVOIR ) on Sun Mars Langrange point, Sun Jupiter Langrange point, Sun Uranus langrange point or Sun Neptune Langrange point..? If we do this.... We will be at a great advantage .... i.e., Away from the Sun hence less time and less fuel required to cool the telescope's instruments, Neptune and Uranus are Cold Planets, The Larger orbits of these planets gives a larger parallax thereby reducing the error in calculating distances.... This can even become an event horizon Telescope of the Aperture Size of the Whole Solar System ... ( Just Imagine the picture resolution of M87 blackhole released by Event horizon telescope of the Aperture size of the Solar System)

[@FuriosoDrummer]

The Event Horizon project is one of humanity's greatest achievements, absolutely nutterbutters.

[@infinitumneo840]

I hope you get better soon. Back pain is no joke. There is so much to learn about these mysterious black holes. It would be nice to one day measure Hawking radiation.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you. I'm feeling quite a bit better since I filmed this though still doing the exercises. And you're right, it's no joke at all and is remarkably crippling. Wouldn't wish it on anybody. But at least I had time to read about Sgr A* :)

[@allthumbs3792]

Great presentation! I could actually follow the logic, though not the math, of the imaging process. Thank you, wishing you a quick recovery.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you very much. I'm doing. a lot better since I filmed the video. So glad you found the video interesting, and don't feel bad about the math, I'd be hard pressed to fully understand it all, myself :)

[@justexactlyperfectbrothersband]

You've done it again Christian, made stuff thats complicated sound simple! Thank you, my head is now full of sparkling clover at the wonder of it. Hope the back gets better, I always 'lay me down' when mine is bad.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

I'm glad you enjoyed the trip :)

[@salmaniqbal6091]

Some Questions are really bothering me a lot Why don't we send a telescope on Mars ( telescope orbiting Mars similar to a satellite ) in the same way as hubble orbits earth? Why don't we send telescopes to orbit Uranus and Neptune? Why don't we send a telescope like james webb ( For Example LUVOIR ) on Sun Mars Langrange point, Sun Jupiter Langrange point, Sun Uranus langrange point or Sun Neptune Langrange point..? If we do this.... We will be at a great advantage .... i.e., Away from the Sun hence less time and less fuel required to cool the telescope's instruments, Neptune and Uranus are Cold Planets, The Larger orbits of these planets gives a larger parallax thereby reducing the error in calculating distances.... This can even become an event horizon Telescope of the Aperture Size of the Whole Solar System ... ( Just Imagine the picture resolution of M87 blackhole released by Event horizon telescope of the Aperture size of the Solar System)

[@RingoBars]

I thought I had seen all videos covering the recent black hole imaging, but this was MARVELOUSLY well put together. Almost too well - I had to take it back a few times cause you and/or your team absolutely nailed the graphics collection! Awesome, fascinating video. Thank you!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Wow thank you so much for your kind words!

[@Jolielegal]

Excelent video. I like how you dig into the technical details, like showing all the different simulations, different imaging techniques, things that most science channels skip.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you!

[@DanielPizarro184]

I have been waiting for you to cover a video about the Sag A*. so far the best and most informative video on youtube about it. Thank you soo muchhhh!!!!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Wow, thank you!

[@AlexanderBruyns]

Very excited to see more images (and hopefully animations) from the EHT!

[@kevinhaynes9091]

The donut on the Moon was an inspired aid in understanding the comparative sizes...

[@brianmessemer2973]

Yes, absolutely agree, that was a brilliant way to contextualize the mind-bogglingly small size we're dealing with.

[@thiagotrevisandesouza6895]

Your explanations are the richest in terms of astrophysics. Thankyou to share your knowlege.

[@DanielGBenesScienceShows]

That apple analogy was fantastic! Even though I know how we fill in informational gaps, that still caught me off guard.

[@brianmessemer2973]

Yep. The mark of a superior teacher - makes a concept illuminating even if you already know a lot about it.

[@DanielGBenesScienceShows]

@@brianmessemer2973 Well said!

[@StormsandSaugeye]

My observatory took part in the Event Horizon telescope observations that led to this! Never been more proud to have made the career change

[@jonesmartins]

By far the best explanation about imaged black holes I found on KZbin.

[@dandurkin9735]

Thank you for this video and your excellent explanations! You answered many of the questions I had when the image debuted.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Wow, so glad it helped!

[@victorbeda1944]

Love watching your videos!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you so much!

[@mrhashbrown8283]

I hope your back is feeling better Christian, I’m glad you’re back

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks, it’s doing much better now!

[@StarrDust0]

Outstanding vid and explanation...few channels go in depth like this one.

[@daniellassa4910]

Your explanation is top notch, love your videos. Brilliant job, keep it up. Subscribed

[@hartm4nn]

I Always learn lots of thinks in this channel. Best of best explanation. Awesome work!

[@DeBanked]

The wait is over not only to see Sag-A star in all its glory, but also Christians take on it. "Very excited"

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

You're very kind :)

[@jerrypolverino6025]

This was such a wonderful project. Big science at its best. Great video. Truly enjoyed it. Take care of your back my friend. It means everything.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks Jerry, I appreciate it!

[@brianmessemer2973]

Phenomenal video. So fascinating and so well done. 9:21 through 9:31 reminded me of Arrival. You're an excellent and highly effective teacher. I entered the video with enthusiastic novice knowledge and left it with, well not expert knowledge but certainly with a much more comprehensive understanding of several intersecting and interrelated concepts and topics. It's the same with your JWST video series which is absolutely top-shelf stuff. Thanks for what you're doing. Stunning video sir 🫡

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Wow, thank you!

[@brianmessemer2973]

@@LaunchPadAstronomy My pleasure. Keep up the great work.

[@clavesi]

this is so interesting! what an amazing breakdown!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you!

[@manjsc]

awesome thanks for another video! what a great way to start the weekend

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Glad I finally got it done :)

[@planet9496]

Thanks, video was very informative..

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Glad you liked it :)

[@Munecoshh1]

What a great video! Thx so much

[@joshadams8761]

Sorry to hear about your back and glad you are doing better. I agree that having some temporal distance between the news and the video is helpful.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank Josh, it's much appreciated.

[@IsraelSocial]

Best explanation video that i ever saw! Congrats

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you!

[@IlluminatiBG]

Just another amazing thing - this might be the largest digital image (in terms of bytes) humanity has ever made so far.

[@salmaniqbal6091]

Some Questions are really bothering me a lot Why don't we send a telescope on Mars ( telescope orbiting Mars similar to a satellite ) in the same way as hubble orbits earth? Why don't we send telescopes to orbit Uranus and Neptune? Why don't we send a telescope like james webb ( For Example LUVOIR ) on Sun Mars Langrange point, Sun Jupiter Langrange point, Sun Uranus langrange point or Sun Neptune Langrange point..? If we do this.... We will be at a great advantage .... i.e., Away from the Sun hence less time and less fuel required to cool the telescope's instruments, Neptune and Uranus are Cold Planets, The Larger orbits of these planets gives a larger parallax thereby reducing the error in calculating distances.... This can even become an event horizon Telescope of the Aperture Size of the Whole Solar System ... ( Just Imagine the picture resolution of M87 blackhole released by Event horizon telescope of the Aperture size of the Solar System)

[@anatollegros3454]

@@salmaniqbal6091 not enough money... There is not enough investment into science unfortunately

[@DrDeuteron]

@@salmaniqbal6091 I don't think we can see the sun-jovian L2, so there would be no way to communicate, and if we could? Deep Space Network can't handle petabytes from 500,000,000 miles out. Multiple orders of magnitude off. And: the largest thing sent to Jupiter (Galileo) is 1/127th of the mass of the South Pole radio telescope...they are huge. Maybe use a dish like SMAP tho?

[@salmaniqbal6091]

@@DrDeuteron But why does this happen? The farther you go the less the data you can send... What is the science behind this? Please help me or send me an animation video..

[@DrDeuteron]

@@salmaniqbal6091 power falls as 1/distance -squared. SNR falls as power (duh). Shannon-Hartley th'm says info rate is limited by I < B*log2(1 + SNR) B = bit rate.

[@houdini178]

so proud of myself on finding this channel; bravo performance! thank you for sharing; Long live Black Holes!

[@earbuds412]

Great video as always! Gonna keep some popcorn ready for the movie starring Sag A* :) Please get well soon!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you! I'm already feeling much better since I filmed the video. Looking forward to those movies as well!

[@realgrandrew]

Absolutely stunning explanation of complex math! Space technology uncovers things that will be common in the industry years to come. Please add more of these crazy tech explanations. Thank you!

[@kevinroche7433]

Great explanation Christian.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks Kevin.

[@kiwibassplayer]

Excellent explanation

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks!

[@TheSpiritoftheCocktail]

CHRISTIAN!!! I hope your back heals well!! So basically, M87's black hole is sort of big, no problem. To be able to get that resolution is awesome, and given a few more years, I think it will improve. Thanks for another excellent video!!!!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks man! My back has gotten a lot better since I filmed the video. Glad you liked it!

[@1206chaos]

If we just had more time we could observe and discover so much more. It’s amazing how much went into this and how long it takes to bring it all together.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Good news is that there are a lot more observations still being processed so fingers crossed!

[@bottlekruiser]

I've heard the future is a long place

[@1206chaos]

@@bottlekruiser I’ve heard we only live so many years. Personal perspective regarding my original comment. The future doesn’t include myself.

[@bottlekruiser]

@@1206chaos Fair enough!

[@willemvandebeek]

I hope your recovery from your back pain will be speedy and well.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

thanks Willem. Already made a lot of progress since I filmed the video. Cheers!

[@MikeKinney8675]

Always enjoy watching your videos, very informative. Waiting on July 12th for the images from JWST.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you, and I’m looking forward to next month as well!

[@salmaniqbal6091]

Some Questions are really bothering me a lot Why don't we send a telescope on Mars ( telescope orbiting Mars similar to a satellite ) in the same way as hubble orbits earth? Why don't we send telescopes to orbit Uranus and Neptune? Why don't we send a telescope like james webb ( For Example LUVOIR ) on Sun Mars Langrange point, Sun Jupiter Langrange point, Sun Uranus langrange point or Sun Neptune Langrange point..? If we do this.... We will be at a great advantage .... i.e., Away from the Sun hence less time and less fuel required to cool the telescope's instruments, Neptune and Uranus are Cold Planets, The Larger orbits of these planets gives a larger parallax thereby reducing the error in calculating distances.... This can even become an event horizon Telescope of the Aperture Size of the Whole Solar System ... ( Just Imagine the picture resolution of M87 blackhole released by Event horizon telescope of the Aperture size of the Solar System)

[@Amradar123]

Great summary of one of the largest astronomy projects to date, all with help of a good old CD :)

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

The image is real Not Fade Away.

[@rJaune]

If that change in orientation happened in the last few thousand years, maybe we could use Pulsar Timing Arrays to analyze the collision. Awesome video Christian! Feel better!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks!

[@JM-us3fr]

Extending these techniques to higher frequencies of light is the most exciting prospect for future astronomy, in my opinion. If the highest resolution ever seen can be attained with millimeter wavelength, imagine what can be attained with infrared and beyond

[@DrDeuteron]

1) too fast to digitize into I and Q (that is, a coherent signal). 2) if (1) were false, the data rate would be too high to write/store.

[@JM-us3fr]

@@DrDeuteron I figured that would be the main issue. So we’re gonna need some futuristic hardware

[@MrRikobra]

good luck with your back ! greeting from the netherlands !

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks George, I'm feeling much better. Need to keep doing the exercises though :)

[@adeelaafzal3564]

Thanks a lot. Get well soon.

[@iamt_tl]

the next phone X's advertisement: *Shows picture of Sagittarius A** Shot by XXXXXX

[@ThisSteveGuy]

Science has yet to figure out why there is a donut on the moon.

[@tkbravox5167]

may the force be with u

[@stephenbrand5661]

Back injuries are the worst!! I broke a couple ribs on my back beneath my right shoulder blade last winter and it took a solid 2 months to heal up.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Yikes! Glad you're back in one piece!

[@iveharzing]

Thank you for this thorough explanation of the image! I have 2 questions: Over what timeframe is the image "averaged"? Is it a few hours, or close to 24 hours, because of the rotation of the Earth? And what was the timeframe of that "best bet model" at 16:11 ? (How much time passes in 1 second of the animation?)

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

They looked at Sgr A* for 8-12 hours per night, depending on the telescope. My understanding is that the April 11 2017 run was able to use all 8 telescopes.

[@salmaniqbal6091]

Some Questions are really bothering me a lot Why don't we send a telescope on Mars ( telescope orbiting Mars similar to a satellite ) in the same way as hubble orbits earth? Why don't we send telescopes to orbit Uranus and Neptune? Why don't we send a telescope like james webb ( For Example LUVOIR ) on Sun Mars Langrange point, Sun Jupiter Langrange point, Sun Uranus langrange point or Sun Neptune Langrange point..? If we do this.... We will be at a great advantage .... i.e., Away from the Sun hence less time and less fuel required to cool the telescope's instruments, Neptune and Uranus are Cold Planets, The Larger orbits of these planets gives a larger parallax thereby reducing the error in calculating distances.... This can even become an event horizon Telescope of the Aperture Size of the Whole Solar System ... ( Just Imagine the picture resolution of M87 blackhole released by Event horizon telescope of the Aperture size of the Solar System)

[@AliHSyed]

Great video! How close to SagA* would one have to be to get the view the image shows?

[@DrDeuteron]

just scale a donut on the moon: 4"/280000miles = 0.4 AU/[answer]

[@salmaniqbal6091]

The most outstanding video ever... Giving conceptual indepth and extraordinary information about sag A which no video in KZbin has ever done yet...... Well a bad news is that JWST will send its first image on 12th july... This news is pretty much heartbreaking.. I was expecting that the first image will be fascinating us by mid june... But sadly 38 Days are left.... As long as I have seen your videos you have not discussed that how will JWST monitor blackholes or what extra information can JWST give us about blackholes... Is JWST nit designed for blackholes, neutron stars and pulsars? Sadly JWST is taking so long for its images... Why the calibration phase has so long duration... Which instruments are to be callibrated and how will JWST calliberate its instruments? ... What is that callibration procedure?

[@garrytuohy9267]

While it is hard to imagine the number of stars that must have gone into Sgr A*, I find it impossible to imaging how M87* could have evolved.

[@bullshitvendor]

the universe is unimaginable

[@salmaniqbal6091]

Some Questions are really bothering me a lot Why don't we send a telescope on Mars ( telescope orbiting Mars similar to a satellite ) in the same way as hubble orbits earth? Why don't we send telescopes to orbit Uranus and Neptune? Why don't we send a telescope like james webb ( For Example LUVOIR ) on Sun Mars Langrange point, Sun Jupiter Langrange point, Sun Uranus langrange point or Sun Neptune Langrange point..? If we do this.... We will be at a great advantage .... i.e., Away from the Sun hence less time and less fuel required to cool the telescope's instruments, Neptune and Uranus are Cold Planets, The Larger orbits of these planets gives a larger parallax thereby reducing the error in calculating distances.... This can even become an event horizon Telescope of the Aperture Size of the Whole Solar System ... ( Just Imagine the picture resolution of M87 blackhole released by Event horizon telescope of the Aperture size of the Solar System)

[@bullshitvendor]

@@salmaniqbal6091 woooo! babysteps before walking, before running.

[@SamosIMP]

I think this is the first time we get to see a glimpse of something that is basically eternal, with M87. I don't think there's anything else that we've ever been able to look at where you can say I saw something that will still be here 10^100 years from now, amazing.

[@DrDeuteron]

unless it gets eaten by a bigger BH.

[@Wayzor_]

Dark star crashes pouring its light into ashes

[@DavidBernier]

I hope your back is feeling better.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks, it’s much better than it was before.

[@PafMedic]

Wow,Long Time No See,and I Feel You On Your Back,2 Major Lower Back Surgeries,and Hope Their The Last..A Few Of People In Our Astro Group Are Getting Jet Streams From M87 Sometimes,I Was Gonna Ask The Arc Sec Of The Moon,I Wasnt Sure,Wow,I Have A 2TB Flash Drive For My Astro Sometimes,Stack The Images In Deep Sky Stacker,lol..Great Video Christian,Hope Your Back Is Feeling Better Soon,Stay Safe,God Bless,and Clear Skies❤️🙏🏼🔭✨🌏

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks Jan, I appreciate it. Feeling much better since I filmed the video!

[@PafMedic]

@@LaunchPadAstronomy ,Thats Great To Hear,Because Someone Cant Truly Understand.Just How Much It Takes From You.

[@Psillytripper]

i have 5 herniated discs and one just herniated 3 weeks ago i feel you im trying chiropracter and phys therapy as well

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Oh wow, I'm so sorry to hear that! That's much worse then what I just went through. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[@NewMessage]

If it is pointing a pole at us... Um... Are we gonna get zapped the next time it has a big meal?

[@lordsnarkgrumpkinslayer9865]

OUCH!...Hope your back heals up soon, having your back go out is the pits. P.S. Great vid, thanks.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you. Already feeling a lot better since I filmed the video :)

[@s_m]

As per a recent study the synthesized image of Sgr A* may be wrong.Hope further study will clear the confusion.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

I’m sure it is “wrong” in the sense that there’s a lot of uncertainties in the result. Agreed on the need for more study.

[@h.dejong2531]

Well, one study replicated the EHT team results, the other study disagreed. That study then used data from a much larger area to produce an image showing a bright blob for the black hole, plus a jet-like structure. I agree there are uncertainties (the observations are very sparse).

[@ajakethompson]

19:41 I think its also interesting that we are in the right place in our galactic orbit for it to be face on and not edge on in the vertical orientation

[@beta_cygni1950]

It will appear 'face on' (and not edge on) from ANY orientation, due to the relativistic effects and warping effects of the black hole. So now matter what direction you view it from, it will appear 'face-on'.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

To some extent, yes, but an edge-on case would show the foreground disk edge “cutting” across the shadow, as was shown in “Interstellar”. We don’t see that here, hence the

[@slahiri4u]

The black hole Sgr A* has now a Bengali name - 'Govir Mallika', given by the poets of Kolkata, India. The IAU has been informed about this new name. It's exciting.

[@lepuuttelu]

One thing I'm curious about regarding these supermassive black holes and their glowing accretion disks. We know that in stars, in addition mere production of light, there's nuclear fusion going on. But is nuclear fusion also happening in the material around these black holes (outside the event horizon)?

[@lepuuttelu]

And if the answer is 'no' for the kind of black hole we have at the center of our own galaxy, would the answer nevertheless be 'yes' for something more massive and more densely surrounded by material?

[@anhondacivic6541]

black holes are created when a massive star stops its fusion reaction and it explodes in a super nova, there fore all black holes are not doing fusion

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

We don’t see any evidence of fusion in quasar/AGN disks, even though the temperatures are certainly very high. The pressures however aren’t high enough. Even so, there’s still a lot about AGN disks we stony fully understand so it can’t ever be 100% ruled out. Rather we can say that we haven’t found evidence that it’s happening.

[@lepuuttelu]

@@LaunchPadAstronomy Thank you very much for the reply!

[@MrsTitina]

Hope you’re doing well. Take care Chris!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you, I'm already feeling a lot better since I filmed the video. Gotta keep doing the exercises though :)

[@conanichigawa]

17:23 EHT goes to 11. Lol.

[@badcallsign4204]

It’s okay. I feel your pain, literally. I just threw out my back today. It’s absolutely debilitating. Ouch. Better late than never.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Oh no, man :( Get the ice on it!

[@yos025]

Can Webb be use as well to help with this?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Webb won’t be able to resolve the black hole but it will be used to study the environment surrounding it.

[@Dx-Dm]

Get well soon!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you. Already feeling much better since I filmed the video!

[@raymondzhao9557]

coooooooooooooooooooool

[@rage9715]

Don't rush your content

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Good advice.

[@brianmessemer2973]

I'm glad someone commented this and I second it. LPA's content is so superior in quality that I'll watch it about a science announcement weeks or months prior. It's THAT good. Look at the brilliant Paul Shillito of Curious Droid. He most often teaches us about fascinating science and engineering from decades ago...but I watch it because the quality is so high. Quality is always the way.

[@hoplitnet]

I for one caught those Grateful Dead lyrics to start.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

I was waiting for this result to use it :)

[@mrmaison4924]

I find it amazing that a spec of dust in the vast universe contains microbes that are observing and explaining stars, black holes and all kinds of cataclysmic events to themselves. A spec of the universe observing itself.

[@shipofthesun]

Shall we go? You and I, while we can?

[@sheikchilli8670]

i didn't expect our galactic sink drain to be so weak

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

I don't think anyone did :)

[@markpodesta4605]

Black holes are very big beasts. Get well soon Christian. 😀🕳️

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks Mark. I'm doing much better since I filmed the video. But then again, I just assembled some exercise equipment today...ugh...

[@gsaketi1381]

👍👍💯

[@xorbodude]

Jwst should have a look

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

It will! It won’t see it nearly as clearly but it will investigate the environment surrounding it.

[@h.dejong2531]

The resolution of this EHT image is 1000 times better than what the JWST will achieve. That's the advantage of having a telescope the size of Earth. What JWST will see is comparable to this timelapse of stars orbiting the black hole, which was made by the VLT. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoOmdWCwrZqEfKM

[@goldwingerppg5953]

The worst thing you can do is to be sedentary and wear a back brace. You need to move and do back and hamstring stretches. I hope you feel better.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Agreed! And yes I’m doing much better, thanks!

[@goldwingerppg5953]

@@LaunchPadAstronomy Good to hear.

[@muheniathili5414]

Why light itself can't travel at the speed of light .. what might be the reason?

[@d-shiri]

Zero zero zero ZERO zero zero zero. New phenomena in YT.

[@space_engineer17]

0:06 sagittarius *a star* the supermassive *blackhole*

[@bottlekruiser]

Also known as Sagittarius *a asterisk* for the smartasses out there.

[@h.dejong2531]

Yep. Technically it's Sag A[asterisk]. That designation was used before we realized this is a black hole.

[@neurodivergent4life]

Don't black holes look the same from every direction?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

By themselves, yes. But the light from their surrounding disks will change appearance depending on the viewing angle.

[@jc4evur661]

I wonder what JWST will see when pointed at this? I'm wondering if it's sensors might be overwhelmed in the infrared.

[@salmaniqbal6091]

Some Questions are really bothering me a lot Why don't we send a telescope on Mars ( telescope orbiting Mars similar to a satellite ) in the same way as hubble orbits earth? Why don't we send telescopes to orbit Uranus and Neptune? Why don't we send a telescope like james webb ( For Example LUVOIR ) on Sun Mars Langrange point, Sun Jupiter Langrange point, Sun Uranus langrange point or Sun Neptune Langrange point..? If we do this.... We will be at a great advantage .... i.e., Away from the Sun hence less time and less fuel required to cool the telescope's instruments, Neptune and Uranus are Cold Planets, The Larger orbits of these planets gives a larger parallax thereby reducing the error in calculating distances.... This can even become an event horizon Telescope of the Aperture Size of the Whole Solar System ... ( Just Imagine the picture resolution of M87 blackhole released by Event horizon telescope of the Aperture size of the Solar System)

[@jc4evur661]

@@salmaniqbal6091 Great ideas...all we lack is the $$$Zillions$$$ to fund them

[@h.dejong2531]

What JWST will see is probably similar to the timelapse at 12:37: that was done in infrared by VLT.

[@h.dejong2531]

@@salmaniqbal6091 More distance means less cooling required, but we can get to 40 K near Earth. More distance also means you can send less data. JWST will send us 28 GB per day. A telescope at Neptune can only send us data at a few kbyte/s. Even at Neptune, we can only measure the parallax of a small number of stars. A mission to Neptune costs several billion $. The cost/benefit ratio isn't good.

[@jc4evur661]

@@h.dejong2531 That's infrared? It looks like visible light.

[@yogeshpaithankar1476]

Can James Web telescope take picture of blackhole of our galaxy?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Not directly, because even though infrared is much shorter wavelength than radio, Webb is still far too small to directly image the black hole.

[@The-Man-On-The-Mountain]

Nah I've been there and it's nothing like that... o7

[@hmu05366]

Praise allah

[@The-Man-On-The-Mountain]

@@hmu05366 praise deez nuts

[@downflatdown6604]

You need to find a legitimate chiropractor to fix your back. I have 14 years of experience. Finding a good one, that can fix you in one adjustment. You may not know it worked untill the next day. But, without your spine being placed back into it's original place... You will be exactly the same forever. I am a TBI survivor.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks for the tip, and glad you got help as well!

[@shawns0762]

For some reason people dont know that Einstein repeatedly said that singularities are not possible. Wherever you have an astronomical quantity of mass "dilation" (sometimes called gamma or y) will occur. Mass that is dilated is smeared through spacetime relative to an outside observer. General Relativity does not predict singularities when you factor in dilation. Einstein wrote about this in the 1939 journal "Annals of Mathematics". Nobody believed in black holes when he was alive for this reason. If you look at a common relativity graph with velocity on the horizontal line and dilation on the vertical line, the phenomenon is clear, even mass that exists at 75% light speed is partially dilated. There is no place in the universe where mass is more concentrated than at the center of a galaxy. 99.8% of the mass in our solar system is in the sun. 99.9% of the mass of an atom is in the nucleus. If these norms are true for galaxies than we can infer that there is 100's of trillions of solar masses at the center of common spiral galaxies. There is no way to know through observation, there is far too much interference, dilation and gravitational lensing. If we attribute a radius to these numbers, we can calculate that relativistic velocities exist in these regions, the same way we could calculate the surface velocity of the sun if you doubled its mass. The term "Black Hole" came about after Einstein passed. The term and the image was popularized by television and magazines and the belief in them gradually came to be despite the fact that there was no evidence and Einstein said they can not exist. If you pose the question "why cant we see light from the galactic center?" the modern answer would be because gravitational forces there are so strong that not even light can escape (even though the mass of the photon is zero). Einstein's answer would be because the mass there is partially or completely dilated relative to an Earth bound observer.

[@shawns0762]

@Wayne Flanigan The idea that there is any way to take a picture of the galactic center is absurd. There is an image because people are getting paid to spit out an image. Here is an excerpt from Einstein from the 1939 journal "Annals of Mathematics" - "The essential result of this investigation is a clear understanding as to why the "Schwarzchild singularities" (Schwarzchild was the first to raise the issue of GR predicting singularities) do not exist in physical reality. Although the theory given here treats only clusters whose particles move along circular paths it does seem to be subject to reasonable doubt that more general cases will have analogous results. The "Schwarzchild singularities" do not appear for the reason that matter cannot be concentrated arbitrarily. And this is due to the fact that otherwise the constituting particles would reach the velocity of light." We all learned in high school that mass will dilate when it approaches the speed of light. We can use math to calculate that the mass from our own galactic center is dilated. This means in some sublime way that it is all around us, there is no direction you can point your finger that you are not pointing to it. This is the explanation for the abnormally high rotation rates of stars in spiral galaxies (the reason for the theory of dark matter). Low mass galaxies (like NGC 1052-DF2) have predictable star rotation rates. This is what relativity would predict because there is an insufficient quantity of mass to achieve relativistic velocities. This is virtual proof that dilation is the governing phenomenon at galactic centers, there can be no other realistic explanation for this fact.

[@h.dejong2531]

Einstein didn't believe some of the results of his own calculations. He wasn't infallible: Einstein published (in 1922) a qualitative theory of superconductivity based on the vague idea of electrons shared in orbits. This paper predated modern quantum mechanics, and today is regarded as being incorrect. And he died before the first observations were made that aligned with his calculations for black holes. Who knows how he might have reacted to that.

[@shawns0762]

@@h.dejong2531 He is known to have repeatedly said that singularities are not possible. In the 1939 journal "Annals of mathematics" he wrote "The essential result of this investigation is a clear understanding as to why the"Schwarzchild singularities " (Schwarzchild was the first to raise the issue of General relativity predicting singularities) do not exist in physical reality. Although the theory given here treats only clusters whose particles move along circular paths it does seem to be subject to reasonable doubt that more general cases will have analogous results. The"Schwarzchild singularities " do not appear for the reason that matter cannot be concentrated arbitrarily. And this is due to the fact that otherwise the constituting particles would reach the speed of light." The fact that mass will dilate when it approaches the speed of light is something we all learned in high school. The recent discovery that low mass galaxies have normal star rotation rates is virtual proof that dilation is the governing phenomenon at galactic centers. All images and data from galactic centers is in line with relativity.

[@plasmaphysics1017]

Singularities don't exist. They cannot. That is why we know that relativity, despite predicting them, must fail at the quantum level. We have known this for a long time. This does not prevent black holes from forming. Einstein came up with a thought experiment to show why they wouldn't form. However, by Einstein's standards, it was a pretty rubbish paper. Oppenheimer (yes, that one) showed how they could form in a 1939 paper. They were at the same institution for a while. It would be fascinating to know if they ever discussed it together. Either way, Oppenheimer was right.

[@shawns0762]

@@plasmaphysics1017 The basis for black hole theory is a mathematical singularity. It was recently discovered that low mass galaxies (like NGC 1052-DF2) have predictable star rotation rates. This is what relativity would predict because there is an insufficient quantity of mass to achieve relativistic velocities. This is virtual proof that dilation is the governing phenomenon at galactic centers. Relativity perfectly explains the greatest mystery in science (the abnormal rotation rates of stars in spiral galaxies). Black holes and dark matter do not exist, its not a matter of opinion, its an elephant in the room. You believe in something that was created by television, Einstein said can not exist and there is no evidence for.

[@cavetroll666]

now they need to image TON 618 😂

[@alexhudson-]

We need to move on from calling it a black hole and call it crystalline plasma because that actually makes more sense. Matter coming to the point where it goes from solid, to gas, to plasma, finally a higher 5th state where it's a solid plasma.

[@infinummjb]

Cool image but if it wasn't for some hardcore undergrads the whole research could become irreproducibile and there are even claims from Japanese scientist that the whole analysis is flawed and the resulting image is plain wrong.

[@plasmaphysics1017]

Yeah, well that kind of didn't go well for them, timing-wise. They were talking about the M87* image, and suggested the jet could be causing the image. Sgr A* looks pretty much the same, and has no jet. Obviously, the paper was being written before the Sgr A* image was released.

[@pattheitguy]

I'm pretty sure that picture of a black hole is not Sagittarius A Star...

[@plasmaphysics1017]

Errrr, it is. There is only one SMBH in our galaxy, and the telescopes were pointed at it.

[@pattheitguy]

@@plasmaphysics1017 You're absolutely correct, I thought this was of M87*. To be more accurate, I didn't know that we had imaged Sagittarius a star at all when I saw this video come out. Oops!

[@plasmaphysics1017]

@@pattheitguy No probs :)

[@hiseverest9074]

It's not a direct image of it. It's a reconstructed image.

[@thedyslexicorangutan8049]

Lol milky way’s supermassive black hole

[@cutback443]

it's not a "black hole"..