Using the Event Horizon Telescope, an international team of
scientists has for the first time measured the radius of a black
hole at the center of M87, a galaxy some 50 million light years
from the Milky Way. The point of no return: In astronomy, it’s
known as a black hole — a region in space where the pull of
gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.
Black holes that can be billions of times more massive than our
sun may reside at the heart of most galaxies. Such supermassive
black holes are so powerful that activity at their boundaries
can ripple throughout their host galaxies. Now, an international
team, led by researchers at MIT’s Haystack Observatory, has for
the first time measured the radius of a black hole at the center
of a distant galaxy— the closest distance at which matter can
approach before being irretrievably pulled into the black hole.
The scientists linked together radio dishes in Hawaii, Arizona
and California to create a telescope array called the “Event
Horizon Telesco