Live data from Hacker News

The black hole picture is both an astonishing achievement and a deceptive image

prospectmagazine.co.uk

1–10 of 33 posts

Re: The black hole picture is both an astonishing achievement and a deceptive image

#2
To save you from the clickbait: 'The simplistic portrait masks a mind-bendingly complex reality' is the subtitle.

If you plan grace the site with your visit be prepared to be forced to thank them for telling you about their tracking.

And if you actually plan to read the text be prepared to be forced to thank them for putting some advertisement in front of it.

I left feeling violated and disgusted.

Re: The black hole picture is both an astonishing achievement and a deceptive image

#4
The use of the word 'deceptive' in this headline is astonishingly disingenuous. I don't think the article intends to accuse the publishers of the image of deception, but the headline sure reads that way. The article is just trying to explain that imaging a black hole is inherently counterintuitive.

Re: The black hole picture is both an astonishing achievement and a deceptive image

#5
post #2

To save you from the clickbait: 'The simplistic portrait masks a mind-bendingly complex reality' is the subtitle. If you plan grace the site with your visit be prepared to be forced to thank them for telling you about their tracking. And if you actually plan to read the text be prepared to be forced to thank them for putting some advertisement in front of it. I left feeling violated and disgusted.

For those of you not using an adblocker for some reason, the Outline link works fine, as usual: https://outline.com/DHUuhM

Re: The black hole picture is both an astonishing achievement and a deceptive image

#6

The use of the word 'deceptive' in this headline is astonishingly disingenuous. I don't think the article intends to accuse the publishers of the image of deception, but the headline sure reads that way. The article is just trying to explain that imaging a black hole is inherently counterintuitive.

Well, from the other side of the peanut gallery, I think your outrage is misplaced. "Deception" needn't be malicious, and the title already calls this out as an "astonishing achievement."

Re: The black hole picture is both an astonishing achievement and a deceptive image

#7
FTA: "An object in the centre of our galaxy (the Milky Way) called Sagittarius A* is thought to be such a “supermassive” black hole."

If this black hole is 55M LY away and the center of our galaxy should have one. So, why is it that we can see this one, but not the one at the center of our galaxy? Is it because there are things in our line of site with it?

Re: The black hole picture is both an astonishing achievement and a deceptive image

#8
post #7

FTA: "An object in the centre of our galaxy (the Milky Way) called Sagittarius A* is thought to be such a “supermassive” black hole." If this black hole is 55M LY away and the center of our galaxy should have one. So, why is it that we can see this one, but not the one at the center of our galaxy? Is it because there are things in our line of site with it?

Our local SMBH isn't presently eating anything substantial, so it isnt very bright. M87's black hole is eating something enormous, so it's easier to get a picture.

Re: The black hole picture is both an astonishing achievement and a deceptive image

#9
post #7

FTA: "An object in the centre of our galaxy (the Milky Way) called Sagittarius A* is thought to be such a “supermassive” black hole." If this black hole is 55M LY away and the center of our galaxy should have one. So, why is it that we can see this one, but not the one at the center of our galaxy? Is it because there are things in our line of site with it?

My understanding is that the black hole imaged is both vastly bigger and much more active (i.e. actively consuming matter from its accretion disc) than Sgr A*. That makes it easier to get a compelling image out of it.

I don't really know if line of sight is a factor here though.

Re: The black hole picture is both an astonishing achievement and a deceptive image

#10
post #7

FTA: "An object in the centre of our galaxy (the Milky Way) called Sagittarius A* is thought to be such a “supermassive” black hole." If this black hole is 55M LY away and the center of our galaxy should have one. So, why is it that we can see this one, but not the one at the center of our galaxy? Is it because there are things in our line of site with it?

From what I've read, they actually are a similar size to image when size/distance was taken into account, and they did initially consider imaging SagA*, but M87 proved easier for them to image.
Post reply on HN