The Event Horizon Telescope team has published a new, most detailed image of the black hole M87, which was created using an additional telescope and independent data collected in 2018.
The team of the telescope reported this on its website.
The previous image was taken in 2017, but with the new improvements, the team has obtained an even brighter and clearer image. This gives scientists the opportunity to investigate the complex physical processes occurring around black holes.
In the process of creating the image, the EHT team used eight telescopes from different parts of the planet, as well as a large millimeter telescope. They made efforts to synchronize the atomic clocks and direct all the telescopes to one point. After processing petabytes of data, an image was obtained that clearly shows a “donut” with a black hole in the center and an accretion disk of matter.
The new image is even more accurate and vivid than the previous one. It demonstrates the Doppler/Einstein phenomena, which make a black hole appear brighter on one side. You can also see the shift of the bright spot between the two images, which indicates the motion of matter around the black hole.
Scientists emphasize that the ring around the black hole is shifting due to the influence of the turbulent accretion disk, and this confirms theories about magnetic fields and the plasma environment around black holes.
The EHT team plans to continue observations and obtain several images of the black holes by 2024. This will allow scientists to create the first “video” of a black hole that will show its chaotic movements.
