The images shared of the supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy Messier 87 were from observations in 2017.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration released new images of M87* using data from observations in 2018 that seem to further prove Einstein’s theory of relativity. The first images shared of the supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy Messier 87 were originally from observations made in 2017.
The 2018 images were part of a study recently published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. It revealed a bright ring that was like the one detected in 2017 that surrounds a central deep depression, or, as predicted by general relativity, “the shadow of the black hole.” The study also points out that the brightness peak of the ring shifted about 30 degrees in the 2018 images, compared to the images in 2017. The researchers say this is consistent with their theoretical understanding of variability from turbulent material around black holes.
“A fundamental requirement of science is to be able to reproduce results,” explained Dr. Keiichi Asada, an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan.
