Wonderfest: Black Hole Portrait

Black holes are among the most remarkable predictions of Einstein's theory of gravity. So much material is compressed into such a small volume that nothing, not even light, can escape. In Spring 2019, the multinational Event Horizon Telescope released the first real picture of gas around a massive black hole and the “shadow” cast as that gas swirls in. UC Berkeley astrophysicist Dr. Eliot Quataert will describes how this - and other - pioneering observations were made and what they have taught us about black holes.

Speaker: Eliot Quataert, UC Berkeley