Black Hole Picture Will Be Another Historic First In 2019
Scientists may be on the verge of acquiring the first photos the human race has ever seen of a black hole. In a media advisory, The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration announced that there will be six concurrent press conferences around the world on April 10 to reveal its findings. According to its website, the EHT has been working on delivering the first snapshots of a black hole through the creation of a virtual telescope that’s the size of the Earth. As NBC News notes, this planetary-sized telescope was formed through the connection of eight radio observatories from across the world.
The release states that the press conferences will be held in Washington D.C, Shanghai, Tokyo, Taipei, Brussels, and Santiago and will be streamed in English, Mandarin, and Spanish.
The team behind the project has not disclosed any information about their findings ahead of the event. But they’ve previously revealed that their focus has been on the Sagittarius A-star, which is a large black hole situated about 26,000 light years from Earth, at the heart of the Milky Way. They have also been observing a black hole in the Virgo galaxy.
While the scientist involved in the EHT haven’t dropped any hints about what the public can expect from these simultaneous press briefings, a release on the National Science Foundation’s website says that they plan to “announce a groundbreaking result.”
Astronomers are set to make a 'groundbreaking' black hole announcement https://t.co/jlXSDusp9N pic.twitter.com/OaQH1ugkZU
— CNET (@CNET) April 2, 2019
We may only be just over three months into it but 2019 has already become a year of several historic firsts.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, in January, China landed a probe on the far side of the moon, making it the first country to ever achieve this feat. The accomplishment triggered congratulations from NASA officials on Twitter.
“Congratulations to China’s Chang’e-4 team for what appears to be a successful landing on the far side of the moon,” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted. “This is a first for humanity and an impressive accomplishment!”
As Space.com reports, the probe’s presence on the far side of the moon means that scientist will finally be able to study its landscape.
History has also been made this year in other areas outside of astronomy. The world of politics delivered an important first in early 2019 when the highest number of women in history were sworn into the United States Congress. There are now 125 female congresswomen. According to History.com, the last similarly significant increase in the number of women in Congress occurred during the “Year Of The Woman” in 1992 when the headcount increased from 34 to 55.
