Today has not been any day. Even if you don't like science, surely you have found out about one of the most important moments in the history of astronomy: for the first time we have been able to see the photo of a black hole. There are many explanations for this phenomenon, so we are going to try to make this simple and incidentally laugh a little with the numerous memes that have arisen around the image. Settle in and keep reading.
5 things you need to know about the black hole photo
Photographing a black hole is one of the greatest milestones in the history of science - until now what we had were nothing more than mathematical simulations. Even so, we are not going to give you the plate with theoretical data or explanations about why this is something so important - of that you will already be more than soaked by now after the global coverage that the entire planet is doing.
Instead we are going to tell you some details or curiosities about the great moment that we have lived today and that you will surely find interesting to know:
· The first one in the forehead: what is seen in the photo more than the black hole itself -if it is called black it will be for a reason, don't you think?-, it is the light emitted by the matter that moves around it and forms a ring with dust, gas, etc. This results in us being able to capture that image in the shape of a "donut".
The black hole that has been photographed not the closest to us (which could be expected). It is located in the galaxy M87 (its name is Messier 87*), which is about 55 million light-years away, and has a mass equivalent to 6.500 billion suns. You probably won't be able to imagine such a volume, so we leave you the following image so that you can at least get a slight idea.
M87 Black Hole Size Comparison https://t.co/wwzQ44nO8a https://t.co/wKfeSkW6U9 pic.twitter.com/pfRPc17O2D
— XKCD Comic (@xkcdComic) April 10th 2019
· There is eight Spanish scientists who have been part of this great international project, belonging to the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, the National Geographic Institute, the Institute of Millimetric Radioastronomy and the University of Valencia. In total there have been more than 200 professionals involved in being able to get this photograph.
· This photo and the image that is seen in it of what a black hole looks like coincide with the predictions of the Theory of relativity of Einstein, formulated at the beginning of the last century.
· Today we were actually going to witness not one photo but two photos of two different holes. The other is the black hole of Sagittarius A* of the Milky Way, however, one of the scientists participating in the project has confirmed that although they have the images, they cannot yet publish them "because false conclusions could be drawn," according to collect en The Confidential.
· An extra: Do you want to see a movie where about black holes? The film is considered interstellar It is the film that best represents them, thanks to the fact that its director, the brilliant Christopher Nolan, was advised by Kip Thorne, an American theoretical physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017. The scientific disseminator Álex Riveiro has a fantastic thread on his Twitter account. Twitter in which he explains the wonders of this movie - really, if you haven't seen it, you're already taking time.
Today we are going to talk about the science of what is surely the best science fiction movie that has been published in recent years. I'm talking about Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, which hit theaters in 2014. Warning to sailors, this thread will contain spoilers! pic.twitter.com/xGy2Psu6Ly
- Álex Riveiro (@alex_riveiro) March 12th 2018
black hole meme
You know how people are: they make a joke out of anything. And the first image of the black hole was not going to be less. So that we laugh a little and take the science with humor We've compiled some of the funniest ones we've seen posted on Twitter. Some are very good. What is your favorite?
FIXED pic.twitter.com/XgVJZj6eQA
— Antonio Martinez Ron (@aberron) April 10th 2019
The black hole in the middle of the galaxy M87 when you order it on Aliexpress and when it arrives at your home. pic.twitter.com/mSNLwTlAUr
– Antonio Villarreal (@bajoelbillete) April 10th 2019
— Unblocking Jaén® (@DesatranqueJaen) April 10th 2019
Yep, Huawei did that?? pic.twitter.com/akGrcNnR64
- Ben Geskin (@VenyaGeskin1) April 10th 2019
First image of a black hole released and uh I am worried. https://t.co/bnJdisz4Hl pic.twitter.com/Ll0c34wLPK
- Dieter Bohn (@backlon) April 10th 2019
When you order it on AliExpress / When it arrives at your house pic.twitter.com/llQ4zff5Mz
—Shine McShine (@Shine_McShine) April 10th 2019
Space Twitter right now. pic.twitter.com/vGtLRbFq2O
— Jonathan O'Callaghan (@Astro_Jonny) April 10th 2019