• UGI USER
  • Feb 14, 2024
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EARTH-WIDE TELESCOPE CONFIRMS BLACK HOLE’S SHADOW IS ‘REAL’

Why in the news?

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) recently confirmed the reality of a black hole’s shadow.

source:universetoday

About Existence of Black Hole’s Shadow:

  • First image: Produced in 2019, capturing a black hole at M87 galaxy’s center.
  • Confirmation: New data reaffirms previous observations, including the black hole’s ‘shadow.’
  • Improved telescope coverage and resolution reiterated the shadow’s characteristics.
  • Collaboration among multiple telescopes enhances data collection and analysis.
  • Data comparison between 2017 and 2018 observations revealed significant changes.
  • General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations aided in understanding the black hole’s dynamics.
  • Observations matched predictions for a shadow formed by lensed emission around a rotating black hole.
  • Changes in the accretion disk and jet orientation suggest complex interactions influenced by the black hole’s spin.
Black Hole’s Shadow:

●   The black hole’s shadow is essentially the image of its event horizon.

●   The event horizon is where light rays pointing away from the black hole’s center can no longer escape.

●   Light emitted from inside this boundary cannot reach an external observer.

●   Contrary to expectations, the shadow isn’t a perfect black sphere the size of the event horizon.

●   Due to extreme light bending, the shadow appears distorted.

●   This distortion occurs because of the gravitational effects near the event horizon.

●   The shadow provides valuable insights into the black hole’s properties and gravitational dynamics.