14 May 2022

Prof Roy Kerr: astronomers reveal first image of black hole at Milky Way’s centre

From Saturday Morning, 11:05 am on 14 May 2022
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Photo: University of Canterbury

An image of a gargantuan black hole at the heart of our galaxy has been captured, giving a first glimpse of the ‘gentle giant’ known as Sagittarius A*. The image was produced by a global research team called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, using observations from a worldwide network of radio telescopes.

The image of Sagittarius A* is being heralded as an astounding achievement that will aid us in understanding more about the physics of the universe. It also adds further proof to a 59-year-old theory of rotating black holes by University of Canterbury distinguished professor Roy Kerr.

Kerr was awarded the Oskar Klein Medal in 2020 and the prestigious Crafoord Prize in Astronomy in 2016.