There is a crack, a crack in everything--that's how the light gets in.
How to see something that is very dark in an atmosphere that is very dark? It is almost an impossible question, but today mathematical theory revealed itself in visceral reality.
One hundred years after Einstein, humanity had our first view ever of a Black hole. A Black hole has long been "invisible" because it swallows everything, including light. Nothing can escape it due to the force of gravity, neither light nor matter. Today's images reveal the black hole at the center of Messier 87, one of the biggest Black holes known, more than 55 million light-years away.
To view it, astronomers collaborated around the world in the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) to make direct imaging of the Black hole possible, thanks to eight telescopes around the globe--in Chile, Spain, Mexico, Hawaii, Arizona, and the South Pole in Antartica. Making them interact as one earth-sized telescope required amazing collaboration of more than 200 scientists around the world, with many obstacles to overcome.
The direct visualizing of a Black hole is described as "émouvant," moving, and "presque magique" in its play of light and darkness: It reveals something very mysterious and enigmatic about the universe, as shared in a fascinating way by a astrophysicist on France Culture today.
"Singularities do exist in our universe--as Black holes."
We see almost a halo of light around the obscure hole. To my amateur eye, it almost seems so simple at first sight, that is, its first capture, but its rarity attests to the phenomenal mathematical complexity and bending of space-time that went into such a sighting. But what do I know? Scientists say it is exciting because the images match the simulations. Something once thought to be impossible (to prove) became real today. Einstein's theory of relativity was seen.
NASA image:
The excitement naturally makes one think of Stephen Hawking, who I had the joy of meeting and seeing smile as he met Jacques Derrida at the University of California, Santa Cruz. It also makes me also think of my uncle Lance, who loved Hawking's book.
What does a Black hole make you think of? The diverse network of possible responses is surely astronomical.
Like the theory of the butterfly wings, the butterfly effect, I think it had implications all around the world from a more "spiritual" perspective as well, at least for me. Life has been a battle on every side, and today, I was able to tell God a few things in a way that was a bit like a watershed. Simple things like: I need you / I want to live for my son. And thus simple it will be: gratitude, hope, and a collaborative spirit to overcome future obstacles.
The breath is so important to releasing what no longer serves you.
Kind of like the wonder within a Black hole.
