National Science Foundation reveals first photo of a black hole
Ah, finally, a photo of my soul. Just kidding (not really). In all seriousness, a groundbreaking announcement today by the National Science Foundation revealed the first ever photo of a black hole.
This is a huge deal — until now, it was thought that black holes were completely unseeable. But after years of research and calculations of black holes based on our understanding of the universe, scientists made black holes seeable.
"Black holes are extremely dense pockets of matter, objects of such incredible mass and miniscule volume that they drastically warp the fabric of space-time," The National Science Foundation website reads. "Anything that passes too close, from a wandering star to a photon of light, gets captured. Most black holes are the condensed remnants of a massive star, the collapsed core that remains following an explosive supernova."
Now that scientists can actually see what a black hole looks like, scientists now know much about how they form and how they impact their surroundings.
"Now, nearly a century after scientists suggested black holes might exist, the world now has tools to see them in action," The National Science Foundation website reads. "Using powerful observatories on Earth, astronomers can see the jets of plasma that black holes spew into space, detect the ripples in space-time from black holes colliding, and may soon even peer at the disc of disrupted mass and energy that surrounds the black hole's event horizon, the edge beyond which nothing can escape."
In laments terms, this is a big f&*$ing deal. To follow this discovery, as well as any future advancements, make sure to check out the Fueled by Death Show every Wednesday at 7 p.m. EST on Facebook Live. Our host, Jeff, does a weekly science segment, which is also posted to YouTube after the show.
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