On April 10, astronomers working with the Event Horizon Telescope unveiled a “photograph” of the monstrous black hole that sits at the center of the M87 galaxy, 54 million light years away. Viewed simply as an image, it is neither impressive nor straightforward: It presents a sort of nondescript, blurry, half-glazed doughnut, showing not the black hole itself but the shadow-like distortion it carves in the surrounding illumination. Yet, to a thinking mind, the image reflects the glory of understanding, and to an alert imagination it opens new portals into space, time and deep history.

Source: Wall Street Journal April 17, 2019 15:29 UTC