DIRECTLY IMAGED

Despite being the closest supermassive black hole to Earth, Sgr A* wasn’t the first to be directly imaged by astronomers. That honour went to the black hole at the heart of galaxy Messier 87, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) in 2019. Located 53.5 million light years away, Messier 87’s central black hole is a true monster in comparison to Sgr A*, possessing a mass that is around 6.5 billion times the mass of the Sun. A more detailed image of the same black hole followed in 2021, showing the polarisation of magnetic fields around the monster at the heart of Messier 87.

Messier 87’s supermassive black hole was the first imaged with the EHT