black holes — papers · Status Papers

PhysicsThe Astrophysical Journal Letters · Apr 2019 Open access

First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole

K. Akiyama

This is the first paper in the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) series presenting the first image of a supermassive black hole, located at the center of the galaxy M87. Using global very long baseline interferometry at 1.3 mm, the collaboration resolved a bright ring of emission surrounding a central dark region, the black hole shadow. The observations are consistent with a Kerr black hole of mass about 6.5 billion solar masses.

black holes event horizon telescope vlbi m87

PhysicsPhysical Review Letters · Feb 2016 Open access

Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger

B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott and T. D. Abbott

This paper reported the first direct detection of gravitational waves, recorded on 14 September 2015 by the two LIGO interferometers as the signal GW150914. The observed waveform swept upward in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz and matched general-relativity predictions for the inspiral, merger, and ringdown of a binary black hole system, detected with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a significance greater than 5.1σ. The source was inferred to be the merger of black holes of about 36 and 29 solar masses into a final black hole of about 62 solar masses, radiating roughly 3 solar masses of energy as gravitational waves.

gravitational waves black holes general relativity ligo