A previous version of this video misidentified the image of the black hole. The correct black hole is Messier 87, in the Virgo galaxy cluster. USA TODAY


An international team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Arizona, unveiled the first image ever taken of a black hole.

A network of telescopes captured four images of a "supermassive" black hole that is 6.5 billion times larger than our sun and located in a nearby galaxy called Messier 87, known as M87 for short. 

Here are five things to know about black holes:

1. Why haven't we been able to photograph a black hole until now?

No single telescope on Earth is powerful enough. A research team known as the Event Horizon Telescope project linked together a network of eight telescopes around the world in April 2017. The telescopes collected radio waves from the black hole, and the data was combined to produce the first images ever taken of a black hole in space. 

M87's black hole was chosen for images because it was predicted to be one of the largest black holes that is viewable from Earth.

2. What are black holes?

Black holes are areas of space with a gravity field so strong that light cannot escape them. Shep Doeleman, director of the Event Horizon Telescope, describes them as the most mysterious objects in the universe. 


For the first time, an image of a black hole has been unveiled by the Event Horizon Telescope, but it’s not what you might think. Here’s why. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

3. How many black holes exist?

We don't know. But scientists believe that black holes exist in the centers of most galaxies. They are estimated to be millions, or even billions, times larger than the size of our sun. 

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4. What happens if a person goes into a black hole?

Nothing good. Black holes are cloaked in a bright and super-heated "event horizon," where gravity prevents light — and humans — from escaping. 

Consider this from Charles Lui, author of the "Handy Astronomy Answer Book."

If you fell into a small black hole, the strong tidal forces would essentially pull your body apart. If you fell into a large black hole, like the one recently photographed in the M87 galaxy, you would be no better off. You would slowly move through time, eventually "freezing" and never reaching the end of the black hole. 



5. Who discovered black holes?

The idea of their existence has been around for centuries, according to NASA. Albert Einstein predicted black holes about 100 years ago in his famous theory of general relativity. The theory is when a big star dies, it leaves a small, dense core behind. If the core's mass is more than three times the mass of the sun, gravity overwhelms all other forces and produces a black hole. 

Reach the reporter or 602-444-8072. Follow her on Twitter @anneryman.

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