Astronomers pictured the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The 2022 image of Sagittarius A* showed a glowing ring around the dark central shadow. It confirmed the giant lurking in our galactic core.
Our own giant
The target is close. Sagittarius A* sits at the Milky Way’s heart. It weighs millions of suns.
A glowing ring
The image is iconic. Light bends around the shadow into a ring. Theory matched observation.
A global array
Scale enabled it. Dishes worldwide formed an Earth-sized telescope. Data were vast.
Hard to capture
The task was tough. Rapid changes blurred the source. Clever methods prevailed.
Relativity confirmed
Physics held. The ring size matched predictions. General relativity passed again.
More to come
Work continues. Movies of black holes are the goal. Resolution improves.
The bottom line
The Event Horizon Telescope imaged Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way’s central black hole, in 2022. The glowing ring matched general relativity. Efforts now aim toward moving images of black holes.