First image of our Milky Way's black hole may be inaccurate, scientists say
An independent analysis questions the accuracy of the first image of Sagittarius A*, suggesting it may contain artifacts. The eastern accretion disk appears brighter, indicating high-speed rotation. Future upgrades are expected.
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An independent analysis of the first image of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), suggests that the image may contain inaccuracies. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project captured the image in May 2022, revealing a fuzzy orange doughnut shape. However, researchers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) argue that this appearance may be partly an artifact of the imaging process rather than an accurate representation of the black hole's structure. They propose that the ring-like feature could be more elongated than depicted, based on their analysis of the EHT data using traditional methods. The researchers also noted that the eastern half of the accretion disk appears brighter, indicating it is moving toward Earth at about 60% of the speed of light. The EHT collaboration, which consists of over 400 scientists from 13 institutions, has not yet commented on these findings. Future technological advancements in telescopes are expected to provide clearer images and better insights into the nature of Sgr A* and other black holes.
- Independent analysis questions the accuracy of the first image of Sagittarius A*.
- Researchers suggest the ring-like structure may be an artifact from imaging errors.
- The accretion disk's eastern half appears brighter, indicating high-speed rotation.
- The Event Horizon Telescope project involves over 400 scientists from multiple institutions.
- Future telescope upgrades are anticipated to improve imaging of black holes.
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7 commentsIn section 3 it contains a description of the VLBI technique used by the Event Horizon Telescope and the algorithms used to process the data. The methods rely on deconvolution[2] which behave nicely when dealing with pure signals, but can be tricky in practice on noisy data.
[1]: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/534/4/3237/7660988
I find it curious that they would try to image something that hasn't been observed by telescopes, and where we don't even know it's true appearance, without first proving that the method would work for something we already know, to act as a reference.
Anyone know the expected timeline for better data?
Is there any other milky way in the universe?
I'm not saying there's never a use for it, but only in areas with established information to see how it will develop (a weather forecast is a great example), it should never be used to generate the information (i.e. fill in gaps in experimentation or observation).
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Researchers led by PD Dr. Florian Peißker found an intermediate-mass black hole near the supermassive black hole SgrA* in our galaxy's center. The black hole in star cluster IRS 13 influences star motion, shedding light on supermassive black hole formation.
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