Imaging the Black Hole of M87 Using Radio Astronomy. By Ric Honey

In April, 2019 scientists shocked the world by publishing the first-ever image of a black hole! In this case- the supermassive black hole at the center of the elliptical galaxy M87, some 55 million light years away.

In this talk, Ric Honey- electrical engineer, ham radio operator, and long-time amateur astronomer- discusses some of the techniques used to image the black hole of M87. Radio Astronomy gave birth to the image processing and interferometry techniques that enabled the imaging of the black hole. Ric introduces you to some fundamentals of astronomy in parts of the Electromagnetic Spectrum not visible to the human eye, and why observations at these other frequencies have enhanced our understanding of the Universe.

From the October 4, 2019 meeting of the Memphis Astronomical Society