Technically, we still haven’t imaged the actual black hole…

Alright, that’s not just nitpicking, that’s misunderstanding what language is for.

This, right there, with its global network of collaborators turning their telescopes on the same object at given times, spending hours in synchronising data sets and putting these into perspective and relation to each other…

…that’s simply and utterly awesome in all senses of that word.

And yes, the result, on top of all the science, is this wonderful image of a black hole. 🙂

Image source
Image credits: EHT collaboration


  1. We do claim that all our information arrives through the five senses and nothing exists outside of them. Nature is quite capable of keeping those secrets she wishes , if we delve to deep we come up with nothing.
    Steven Pinker in his book ‘ How the Mind Works ‘points out that the human mind evolved to survive not to unravel the complexities of nature.


      1. However, to claim that we think nothing exists outside our own senses is assuming a little too much. Scientists, at least, are trained to not this. In fact, that is the whole idea behind scientific enquiry: To not assume, but make accessible information needed to think about nature and to describe, if possible. Trurh be told, one can make the argument that X-rays already exist outside of our senses. We cannot see them. We can study them, however. And that is simply utterly awesome, in all senses of that word.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. These days we look with instrumentation and interpret with our eyes. Looking at some of the Hubble glorious coloured pictures makes me wonder if such colours are real like the colours we see when we look at a rose.
    When it comes to the very small we are shown fantastic pictures of DNA and it’s double helix but are they real ? or just a visual representation to satisfy our sense of sight.
    The black hole picture , that must be the most expensive but of photography ever taken , is fine for science fiction addicts but give me an earthbound picture anytime.


    1. These are good thoughts, and important, too. Space telescopes very often do not observe light we can see with our eyes. That does not make them less real, though, until you are prepared to think that nothing exists that you can’t see. Imagine turning it around: we can build things which make or perception grow to include things we have no right to know. I love that. 🙂


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