Event Horizon Telescope

space · black holes · telescope · astronomy

Telescopes around the world. The Event Horizon Telescope isn't just one telescope, but many radio telescopes spread across Earth that work together like a giant team. They combine their data to see things no single telescope could ever see.

Creates a mega telescope. By linking telescopes from different continents, scientists created an imaginary telescope as wide as Earth itself. This gives it enough super-sharp vision to spot a black hole's edge from billions of light-years away.

Photographing black holes. The EHT targeted the two black holes that look biggest from Earth, including the monster black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy called Sagittarius A*. In 2019, it captured the first-ever picture of a black hole shadow.

Radio waves reveal secrets. Instead of seeing visible light like your eyes do, these telescopes detect radio waves, which can pass through dust and gas that would block regular telescopes. This lets scientists peek at things hidden deep in space.

Extreme precision required. The Event Horizon Telescope has to be so precise that it's like standing in New York and spotting a coin lying on the surface of the Moon. This incredible accuracy lets us study some of the universe's most extreme objects.