How Do You Take a Picture of a Black Hole?

Black holes are one of the universe's most exotic and elusive objects, as nothing, not even light, can escape their powerful gravitational pull. Conceiving of capturing an image of a black hole, or its shadow, seemed impossible. However, in 2019, an image of a black hole was finally achieved by a team of 250 researchers. This groundbreaking feat was made possible by linking a network of radio telescopes worldwide, known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT).

The EHT produced the first image of a supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87, located around 55 million light-years away, and later captured the first image of the black hole at the center of our galaxy. In this episode, Shep Doeleman, the Harvard astrophysicist and founding director of the Event Horizon Telescope Consortium, shares how he turned the Earth into a telescope capable of seeing a black hole, the extensive level of science and collaboration involved in this achievement, and the impact the images have had on our understanding of these fascinating objects. The discussion also explores the potential for creating movies of black holes by the early 2030s.