How did they actually take this picture? (Very Long Baseline Interferometry)

This is an image of the supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

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Image of Sgr A* from EHT collaboration

Animations from The Relativistic Astrophysics group, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. Massive thanks to Prof. Luciano Rezzolla, Dr Christian Fromm and Dr Alejandro Cruz-Osorio.

A huge thanks to Prof. Peter Tuthill and Dr Manisha Caleb for feedback on earlier versions of this video and helping explain VLBI.

Animations and simulations with English text:
L. R. Weih & L. Rezzolla (Goethe University Frankfurt)

Video of stars going around Sgr A* from European Southern Observatory

Video zooming into the center of our galaxy from European Southern Observatory

Video of observation of M87 courtesy of:
C. M. Fromm, Y. Mizuno & L. Rezzolla (Goethe University Frankfurt)

Video of observation of SgrA* courtesy of
C. M. Fromm, Y. Mizuno & L. Rezzolla (Goethe University Frankfurt)
Z. Younsi (University College London)

Video of telescopes in the array 2017:
C. M. Fromm & L. Rezzolla (Goethe University Frankfurt)

Animations and simulations (no text):
L. R. Weih & L. Rezzolla (Goethe University Frankfurt)

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Written by Derek Muller
Animation by Ivy Tello, Mike Radjabov, Maria Raykova
Thumbnail by Ignat Berbeci
Filmed by Petr Lebedev

[MrMattie]

The craziest thing to me is that these images just confirm our theories. We had visuals of black holes purely based on the Maths. A random guy on the street could have a decent image of a black hole because a movie did the effort to represent it correctly (minus the lighter and darker parts). And only a few years later, we manage to take a picture which just happens to be exactly what we expected.

[fenggao]

As someone working with radio interferometry for over 10 years, I've never seen an explanation of it's working principle as clear and easy to follow as presented here, great work!

[adveshdarvekar]

This is hands down the best explanation of a black hole I've ever heard.

[jamesgiberson]

Absolutely blown away how, you can explain something so mind blowing in a very clear and understandable way. I feel lost in some parts of all of your videos and then immediately met with understanding. Just when I think it’s going over my head, you bring it right back. Thank you for all your work and for beautifully sharing/communicating it with us.

[achi]

10:31 the way the black hole's picture appears from just black and white lines, is truly amazing.. hats off to the people who took this amazing image of our closest supermassive black hole

[aieousavren]

The explanation and practical demonstration of the way the "image of a black hole" is formed, starting at 10:41, is really marvelous! Great job, Veritasium! I really love that very hands-on prop he used.

[aleisinwndrlen]

In 2019 we had our first ever look at a black hole, pretty much confirming Einstein's theory of relativity, made over 100 years ago. And 3 years later, we finally captured the image of our galaxy's centre, which was for the longest time thought to be near impossible due to the many space debris and dust clouds covering it. It's truly fascinating to see how far our technology has improved in just a span of a few years.

[MarvillousBeats]

This beyond brilliant and genius. The explanation and the method used to develop the images. I've never seen anything like this before. Amazing work on all ends here.

[panner]

The continuous zoom-in from a relatively wide view of the night sky all the way to the stars surrounding the black hole really puts things into perspective.

[clancyjames]

As a radio astronomer myself, I've got to say that your explanation of interferometry was amazing. Might point some of my students towards it!

[.xY.mrn]

When I was a kid I was OBSESSED with space and especially black holes! I remember my junior high science teacher saying they were only "theoretically there" but probably were, and that bummed me out for some reason. He said though we likely wouldn't know in my lifetime if they were surely there let alone what they look like. Yet here we are and I'm absolutely blown away!! I love being alive during a time when more and more amazing steps are being taken in space exploration. I'm 30 now and I can only imagine what things will be like in another 30 years!

[Examantel]

10:40 is impressive. Most people never see a visualization of the actual data processing that goes on.

[pauldonlin]

I've gotta say that your "what does a black hole look like?" explanation is by far the best. I re-watch that video with some frequency while trying to explain black holes. They're basically a spherical "fun-house" where light does all kinds of wacky things. Even the paper written by the visual effects developers for Interstellar leaves a lot on the table in explaining what these things would look like and you do such a great job.

[kevingodfrey]

I'm not even gonna pretend otherwise, the arts and crafts really helped me get a true grasp of what you were describing. Perfectly demonstrated

[theboots]

I've gotta hand it to you-- this was one of the most easily understandable explanations of why we see what we see in these pictures I've ever experienced. Absolutely outstanding work of science communication that makes incredibly complex material understandable without dumbing anything down.

[JanoyCresvaZero]

The difference between the two pictures are bigger than you could imagine. Sagittarius A*’s radius is about the size of Mercury’s orbit, while M87*’s is well beyond the orbit of Pluto. Insane, just how big the universe truly is.

[asterisque]

The insane details, information and presentation... this is too good to be true. Thanks Derek, as a school student, it inspires me much more than you can imagine.

[sschithra]

The world needs teachers like him! Watched many videos about Sgr A* imaging and none of them explained it as clearly and simple as he did! I am marking this video as my black hole reference.

[scottrobinson]

I loved the revisit to your old explanation from the M87* image. Still the clearest and most intuitive explanation I've seen, and the one I always mimic when trying to explain it to friends and family members.
I've been watching your videos for over 10 years, since I was about 13 years old.
I'm 24 now, working on my PhD in Astrophysics.
Even with the knowledge and experience I've gained from my education, I still find that your explanations are usually robust, intuitive and very visually appealing.

You're an inspiration Derek.
I will be sure to thank you in the acknowledgements of my thesis when the time comes, because I don't think I'd be where I am without your videos, and the videos from other science communicators.

[sofianechaieb]

Amazingly well explained! I can't imagine an "easier" way of presenting such a complicated and non-intuitive phenomenon.