Bouman was responsible at MIT for an algorithm used in creating the first images of a black hole, published in April 2019,[14] providing computational support to learn about general relativity in the strong-field regime.[2][15][16] Bouman theorized that black holes leave a background shadow of hot gas.[5] The machine learning algorithm fills in gaps in data produced by telescopes from around the world.[6][17] Bouman led efforts in "the verification of images and selection of imaging parameters" for the Event Horizon Telescope.[14]