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Chron Logo Hearst Newspapers Logo [Skip to main content](https://www.chron.com/news/article/Scientists-reveal-first-images-ever-made-of-black-13755919.php#content) [Newsletters](https://link.chron.com/join/signup-chron) [About Us](https://www.hearst.com/chron) - [Contact Chron](https://www.chron.com/about/) - [Advertise with Us](http://marketing.chron.com/) - [Careers](https://eevd.fa.us6.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/requisitions?lastSelectedFacet=CATEGORIES&location=Houston%2C+TX%2C+United+States&locationId=300000001934561&locationLevel=city&mode=location&radius=25&radiusUnit=MI&selectedCateg) - [Newsletters](https://www.chron.com/newsletters/) - [Terms of Use](https://www.chron.com/terms/) - [Privacy Notice](https://www.chron.com/privacy/) [News](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/) - [Space](https://www.chron.com/news/space/) - [Parks & Wildlife](https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/) - [US News](https://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/nation/) - [Houston News](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/) - [Texas News](https://www.chron.com/texas/) - [Transportation](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/) - [Weather](https://www.chron.com/weather/) - [Politics](https://www.chron.com/politics/) - [Science & Environment](https://www.chron.com/news/science-environment/) - [Education](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/) - [World News](https://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/world/) [Food & Drink](https://www.chron.com/food/) [Sports](https://www.chron.com/sports/) - [Texans](https://www.chron.com/sports/texans/) - [Rockets](https://www.chron.com/sports/rockets/) - [Astros](https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/) - [High School](https://www.chron.com/sports/highschool/) - [Colleges](https://www.chron.com/sports/college/) [Culture](https://www.chron.com/culture/) - [Travel](https://www.chron.com/life/travel/) - [Music](https://www.chron.com/culture/music/) - [TV & Film](https://www.chron.com/culture/tv/) - [Arts & Theater](https://www.chron.com/culture/arts) [Business](https://www.chron.com/business/) [Shopping](https://www.chron.com/shopping/) [Gulf Coast](https://www.chron.com/gulf-coast/) [Puzzles](https://www.puzzmo.com/+/chron/today) [Best Of](https://www.chron.com/best/) [Classifieds](https://marketplace.houstonchronicle.com/houston-marketplace/) - [Legal Notices](https://marketplace.houstonchronicle.com/houston-marketplace/category/legals/) - [Place Legal Notices](https://placelegal.hearst.com/legals/houston/index.html) - [Obituaries](https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/) - [Place an Obituary](https://ezads.hearst.com/obits/houston/index.html) - [Jobs](https://marketplace.houstonchronicle.com/houston-marketplace/category/jobs/) - [Cars](https://marketplace.houstonchronicle.com/houston-marketplace/category/autos/) - [Real Estate](https://marketplace.houstonchronicle.com/houston-marketplace/category/real-estate/) - [Place Real Estate Agent / Broker Ad](https://marketing.houstonchronicle.com/contact) [Sponsor Content](https://www.chron.com/sponsoredarticles/lifestyle/) - [Sponsor Content: Business](https://www.chron.com/sponsoredarticles/business/) [Chron Logo](https://www.chron.com/) [Newsletters](https://link.chron.com/join/signup-chron) Top Stories: [Visiting Long Weekend](https://www.chron.com/food/article/houston-long-weekend-review-22091746.php)\| [Whataburger faves return](https://www.chron.com/texas/article/whataburger-steakhouse-menu-new-22094080.php)\| [➕ Make Chron your preferred Google source](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=chron.com) [News](https://www.chron.com/news/) # Scientists reveal first image ever made of a black hole By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Updated April 10, 2019 8:24 a.m. ![An undated handout photo provided by NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team shows a jet of subatomic particles, traveling at nearly the speed of light, as it streams from the center of the galaxy Messier 87. Lurking at the center of the galaxy, scientists believe, is a black hole with a mass 7 billion times that of our sun. At 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, a group of astronomers who run a globe-girdling network of radio telescopes called the Event Horizon Telescope are expected to unveil their long awaited pictures of a pair of putative black holes.\&nbsp;]() An undated handout photo provided by NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team shows a jet of subatomic particles, traveling at nearly the speed of light, as it streams from the center of the galaxy Messier 87. Lurking at the center of the galaxy, scientists believe, is a black hole with a mass 7 billion times that of our sun. At 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, a group of astronomers who run a globe-girdling network of radio telescopes called the Event Horizon Telescope are expected to unveil their long awaited pictures of a pair of putative black holes. Nasa Esa And The Hubble Heritage Team/NYT ![photo WEIRD STUFF FOUND IN SPACE TITLE SLIDE from slideshow titled "You wouldn't believe the weird stuff that we've found in space"]() ESO/M. Kornmesser ![Blistering hot planet that "snows" sunscreenWhat is your SPF? It wouldn't matter, depending on where you are on Kepler-13Ab, shown in this artist's rendering on the left. The planet was discovered in October 2017 to have titanium oxide, the main ingredient in most sunscreens, "snowing" in most of its atmosphere.The only problem is that the sunscreen snow only happens on the nighttime side of the planet. According to NASA, the gas condenses into crystal flakes, forms into clouds and then is pulled out of the planet's upper atmosphere into its lower atmosphere by the planet's surface gravity, which is six times greater than Jupiter's (which has the strongest gravitational pull in our solar system). Three stars in Kepler-13Ab's system are also shown in the image above.]() **Blistering hot planet that "snows" sunscreen** What is your SPF? It wouldn't matter, depending on where you are on Kepler-13Ab, shown in this artist's rendering on the left. The planet was discovered in October 2017 to have titanium oxide, the main ingredient in most sunscreens, ["snowing" in most of its atmosphere](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/hubble-observes-exoplanet-that-snows-sunscreen). The only problem is that the sunscreen snow only happens on the nighttime side of the planet. According to NASA, the gas condenses into crystal flakes, forms into clouds and then is pulled out of the planet's upper atmosphere into its lower atmosphere by the planet's surface gravity, which is six times greater than Jupiter's (which has the strongest gravitational pull in our solar system). Three stars in Kepler-13Ab's system are also shown in the image above. NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI) ![Kepler-13Ab, which has titanium oxide, the main ingredient in most sunscreens, "snowing" in most of its atmosphere, compared to five planets in our solar system.]() Kepler-13Ab, which has titanium oxide, the main ingredient in most sunscreens, "snowing" in most of its atmosphere, compared to five planets in our solar system. NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI) ![A sea of methane of TitanTitan, the largest moon of Saturn, has a few things in common with Earth. There are large seas on Titan, just like Earth. Both the moon and the planet have nitrogen-dominated atmospheres (95 percent of Titan's atmosphere is nitrogen). But a huge difference between the two is that Titan has very little oxygen.Aside from nitrogen, Titan's atmosphere is mostly made up of methane, and at the frigid temperatures found on Saturn and Titan, the compound can exist on the surface in the form of liquid. In 2014, the NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens radar found Ligeia Mare, the second largest sea on Titan. The sea is similar in size to Lake Huron and Lake Michigan combined and is methane-rich. In this near-infrared, color mosaic NASA's Cassini spacecraft, sunlight glints off of Titan's northern seas.]() **A sea of methane of Titan** Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, has a few things in common with Earth. There are large seas on Titan, just like Earth. Both the moon and the planet have nitrogen-dominated atmospheres (95 percent of Titan's atmosphere is nitrogen). But a huge difference between the two is that Titan has very little oxygen. Aside from nitrogen, Titan's atmosphere is mostly made up of methane, and at the frigid temperatures found on Saturn and Titan, the compound can exist on the surface in the form of liquid. In 2014, [the NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens radar found Ligeia Mare](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/cassini-explores-a-methane-sea-on-titan), the second largest sea on Titan. The sea is similar in size to Lake Huron and Lake Michigan combined and is methane-rich. In this near-infrared, color mosaic NASA's Cassini spacecraft, sunlight glints off of Titan's northern seas. NASA/JPL/Univ. Arizona/Univ. Idaho ![An image of Ligiea Mare, the second largest body of liquid on Saturn's moon Titan.]() An image of Ligiea Mare, the second largest body of liquid on Saturn's moon Titan. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/Cornell ![An asteroid with lots of blingIn July 2015, an asteroid passed by Earth that could contain trillions of dollars in precious metals, according to Fortune. Asteroid 2011 UW158 is about half a kilometer long, but is packed with platinum and other metals. The value of the space rock could be anywhere between \$300 billion and \$5 trillion, Slooh, an online telescope service, reported."What makes this unusual is the large amount of platinum believed to be lurking in the body of this space visitor. Can it be mined someday, perhaps not too far in the future?" Slooh's Bob Berman told International Business Times. Scientists using two giant, Earth-based radio telescopes bounced radar signals off passing asteroid 2011 UW158 to create the image above.]() **An asteroid with lots of bling** In July 2015, an asteroid passed by Earth that could contain trillions of dollars in precious metals, [according to Fortune](http://fortune.com/2015/07/20/asteroid-precious-metals/). Asteroid 2011 UW158 is about half a kilometer long, but is packed with platinum and other metals. The value of the space rock could be anywhere between \$300 billion and \$5 trillion, Slooh, an online telescope service, reported. "What makes this unusual is the large amount of platinum believed to be lurking in the body of this space visitor. Can it be mined someday, perhaps not too far in the future?" Slooh's Bob Berman [told International Business Times](http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/private-mining-companies-lick-their-lips-3-5-trillion-platinum-hurtles-past-earth-1511528). Scientists using two giant, Earth-based radio telescopes bounced radar signals off passing asteroid 2011 UW158 to create the image above. NASA/JPL-Caltech/NRAO ![A planet made of diamondsIn 2004 scientists discovered a planet orbiting the star 55 Cancri that is thought to be mostly made up of diamonds. The planet is called 55 Cancri e and it orbits its star every 18 hours and can get as hot as 9,200 degrees. Because of its potential diamond makeup, the planet is valued at \$26.9 nonillion, which \$26.9 followed by 30 zeroes.Jason McCracken with NASA gives a visual representation of what that much money might look like: "To give you a bad example of a nonillion (there aren’t any good ones), if I covered the Earth in a nonillion one dollar bills, the bills would create a layer 12 million miles thick – nearly half the distance from Earth to Venus’ orbit."The super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cancri e is depicted with its star in this artist's concept. The exoplanet is eight times more massive than Earth, likely has an atmosphere thicker than Earth's but with ingredients that could be similar to those of Earth's atmosphere.]() **A planet made of diamonds** In 2004 scientists discovered a planet orbiting the star 55 Cancri that is thought to be mostly made up of diamonds. The planet is called 55 Cancri e and it orbits its star every 18 hours and can get as hot as 9,200 degrees. Because of its potential diamond makeup, the planet is valued at \$26.9 nonillion, which \$26.9 followed by 30 zeroes. [Jason McCracken with NASA](https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/blueshift/index.php/2013/07/12/jasons-blog-next-stop-diamond-planets/) gives a visual representation of what that much money might look like: "To give you a bad example of a nonillion (there aren’t any good ones), if I covered the Earth in a nonillion one dollar bills, the bills would create a layer 12 million miles thick – nearly half the distance from Earth to Venus’ orbit." The super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cancri e is depicted with its star in this artist's concept. The exoplanet is eight times more massive than Earth, likely has an atmosphere thicker than Earth's but with ingredients that could be similar to those of Earth's atmosphere. NASA/JPL-Caltech ![Milky Way cloud that smells like rum, tastes like raspberriesAstronomers discovered Sagitarrius B2, a massive cloud near the center of the Milky Way galaxy, in 1995. Sagitarrius B2 is 1,000 times larger than the diameter of our solar system, but that's not the only interesting fact about it.Scientists believe that the cloud smells like rum and tastes like raspberries, kinda. While using a spectrograph to look for amino acids in the cloud they found that it has 10 octillion liters (27 zeroes) of methanol and ethanol in it and an abundance of ethyl formate. Ethanol is the main ingredient in alcohol and ethyl formate is a compound gives raspberries their taste, making Sagitarrius B2 taste and smell like Bacardi Raspberry. This color-composite image of the Galactic Centre and Sagittarius B2 as seen by the ATLASGAL survey.]() **Milky Way cloud that smells like rum, tastes like raspberries** Astronomers discovered Sagitarrius B2, a massive cloud near the center of the Milky Way galaxy, in 1995. Sagitarrius B2 is 1,000 times larger than the diameter of our solar system, but that's not the only interesting fact about it. Scientists believe that the cloud smells like rum and tastes like raspberries, kinda. While using a spectrograph to look for amino acids in the cloud they found that it has 10 octillion liters (27 zeroes) of methanol and ethanol in it and an abundance of ethyl formate. Ethanol is the main ingredient in alcohol and ethyl formate is a compound gives raspberries their taste, making Sagitarrius B2 taste and smell like Bacardi Raspberry. This color-composite image of the Galactic Centre and Sagittarius B2 as seen by the ATLASGAL survey. ESO/APEX & MSX/IPAC/NASA ![This exoplanet got over 1,000 degrees hotter in six hoursImagine leaving the house in the morning with a jacket, expecting a 40-degree day, then it being 1,040 degrees when you leave work. Well, that happened on the exoplanet HD 80606b. Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in Pasadena, Calif. observed this exoplanet getting really temperature-mental in 2009. According to NASA, the planet's temperature rose by 1,290 degrees in a matter of just six hours before rapidly cooling back down.This gas giant orbits a parent star that is 190 light-years away from Earth. These computer-generated images above chart the development of severe weather patterns on the highly eccentric exoplanet HD 80606b during the days after its closest approach to its parent star.]() **This exoplanet got over 1,000 degrees hotter in six hours** Imagine leaving the house in the morning with a jacket, expecting a 40-degree day, then it being 1,040 degrees when you leave work. Well, that happened on the exoplanet HD 80606b. Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in Pasadena, Calif. observed this exoplanet getting *really* temperature-mental in 2009. [According to NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/news/spitzer-20090128.html), the planet's temperature rose by 1,290 degrees in a matter of just six hours before rapidly cooling back down. This gas giant orbits a parent star that is 190 light-years away from Earth. These computer-generated images above chart the development of severe weather patterns on the highly eccentric exoplanet HD 80606b during the days after its closest approach to its parent star. NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCSC ![Stars cooler than the human bodyLet's cool things down a bit. In 2011, scientists using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is also located in Pasadena, located Y dwarfs, the coolest known class of star-like bodies about 40 light-years away from our sun.How cool are they? They range between about 80 degrees, roughly 18 degrees cooler than the human body, and 350 degrees, which is still cool for a star. According to NASA, Y dwarfs are a part of a larger family of space objects called brown dwarfs, which begin their lives as stars. But they never accumulate enough mass to fuse the atoms at their cores consistently and shine.This artist's conception illustrates what a "Y dwarf" might look like. Y dwarfs are the coldest star-like bodies known, with temperatures that can be even cooler than the human body.]() **Stars cooler than the human body** Let's cool things down a bit. In 2011, [scientists using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/news/wise20110823.html), which is also located in Pasadena, located Y dwarfs, the coolest known class of star-like bodies about 40 light-years away from our sun. How cool are they? They range between about 80 degrees, roughly 18 degrees cooler than the human body, and 350 degrees, which is still cool for a star. [According to NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/multimedia/pia14720.html), Y dwarfs are a part of a larger family of space objects called brown dwarfs, which begin their lives as stars. But they never accumulate enough mass to fuse the atoms at their cores consistently and shine. This artist's conception illustrates what a "Y dwarf" might look like. Y dwarfs are the coldest star-like bodies known, with temperatures that can be even cooler than the human body. NASA/JPL-Caltech ![The planet that might rain molten glassThis exoplanet, named HD 189733 b, might look as welcoming to life as Earth, with its abundance of bright blue, but astronomers think it could be a very dangerous place because of its weather. For starters, winds on the exoplanet can blow up to 5,400 miles per hour, which is seven times the speed of sound.But add to that the possibility of the molten glass raining from the atmosphere, which astronomers think is actually what happens on HD 189733 b, and you've got the the ingredients for a more-than-gnarly weather event. Oh yeah, did we mention that the daytime temperatures on this exoplanet could reach 2,000 degrees?HD 189733 b might look pretty in this artist's rendering, but that cobalt blue comes from the haze of a super hot atmosphere that has high clouds with silicate particles.]() **The planet that might rain molten glass** This exoplanet, named HD 189733 b, might look as welcoming to life as Earth, with its abundance of bright blue, but [astronomers think it could be a very dangerous place because of its weather](https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/rains-of-terror-on-exoplanet-hd-189733b). For starters, winds on the exoplanet can blow up to 5,400 miles per hour, which is seven times the speed of sound. But add to that the possibility of the molten glass raining from the atmosphere, which astronomers think is actually what happens on HD 189733 b, and you've got the the ingredients for a more-than-gnarly weather event. Oh yeah, did we mention that the daytime temperatures on this exoplanet could reach 2,000 degrees? HD 189733 b might look pretty in this artist's rendering, but that cobalt blue comes from the haze of a super hot atmosphere that has high clouds with silicate particles. ESO/M. Kornmesser ![Matters of the heartbeat starsA large number of binary stars, which are also called heartbeat stars, are systems of two stars orbiting each other and large numbers of them have been discovered over the last several years by NASA's Kepler space telescope. They are called heartbeat stars because when their brightness is mapped out over time they look like an electrocardiogram, a graph of the electrical activity of the heart.If we take the metaphor further, these star systems generally have quite the on-again, off-again relationships with one another. During one orbit around each other, heartbeat stars can be as close as a few stellar radii away from each other and as far as 10 times that distance from each other. This artist's concept depicts "heartbeat stars."]() **Matters of the heartbeat stars** A large number of binary stars, which are also called heartbeat stars, are systems of two stars orbiting each other and large numbers of them have been discovered over the last several years by NASA's Kepler space telescope. They are called heartbeat stars because when their brightness is mapped out over time they look like an electrocardiogram, a graph of the electrical activity of the heart. If we take the metaphor further, these star systems generally have quite the on-again, off-again relationships with one another. During one orbit around each other, heartbeat stars can be as close as a few stellar radii away from each other and as far as 10 times that distance from each other. This artist's concept depicts "heartbeat stars." NASA/JPL-Caltech ![This planet has flaming hot iceScientists using NASA's Hubble telescope spotted Gliese 436b, a planet that seems to embody the word oxymoron: the planet's surface is covered with burning-hot ice. In 2007, a team of astronomers announced that they discovered that extremely high pressure on the planet keeps the water on it solid, but burning hot. These types of conditions can only be replicated on Earth in laboratories.The planet, which was discovered in 2004 and is about 22 times the size of Earth, is approximately 30 light-years away from the sun.]() **This planet has flaming hot ice** Scientists using NASA's Hubble telescope spotted Gliese 436b, a planet that seems to embody the word oxymoron: the planet's surface is covered with burning-hot ice. In 2007, [a team of astronomers announced](https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070517-hot-planet.html) that they discovered that extremely high pressure on the planet keeps the water on it solid, but burning hot. These types of conditions can only be replicated on Earth in laboratories. The planet, which was discovered in 2004 and is about 22 times the size of Earth, is approximately 30 light-years away from the sun. NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI) ![This rocky planet could have a lava oceanNASA announced in January 2011 that it discovered a rocky exoplanet, the smallest planet found outside of our solar system at the time, and scientists think could have a lava ocean on its surface. Kepler-10b is 1.4 times the size of Earth and was the first evidence of a rocky planet orbiting a star other than our sun.Although Kepler-10b has rocky terrain similar to Earth, you could never live there. That's because it's 20 times closer to its star, Kepler 10, than Mercury is to our sun. The image above shows an artist's concept of Kepler-10b.]() **This rocky planet could have a lava ocean** NASA announced in January 2011 that it discovered a rocky exoplanet, the smallest planet found outside of our solar system at the time, and [scientists think could have a lava ocean](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/20-intriguing-exoplanets) on its surface. Kepler-10b is 1.4 times the size of Earth and was the first evidence of a rocky planet orbiting a star other than our sun. Although Kepler-10b has rocky terrain similar to Earth, you could never live there. That's because it's 20 times closer to its star, Kepler 10, than Mercury is to our sun. The image above shows an artist's concept of Kepler-10b. NASA ![An ice volcano on CeresWe Earthlings typically associate volcanoes with smoky eruptions and flows of molten hot lava, but NASA announced in 2016 that its Dawn mission discovered a mountain on the dwarf exoplanet Ceres that showed signs of geologically recent releases of an icy slush of frigid, salty water, sometimes mixed with mud.The volcanic mountain, Ahuna Mons, is not active now and is a rare find on dwarf planets. Scientists with NASA said that typically only planets or satellites orbiting have volcanic activity. It's not the only known cryovolcano; there's one on Saturn's moon Enceladus that has fountains of water-ice flowing from cracks in the icy crust at its southern pole. But it's the first cryovolcano discovered that produces the brine-clay mix, according to Lucy McFadden of NASA's Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt, Md. This side-perspective view of Ceres' mysterious mountain Ahuna Mons was made with images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft.]() **An ice volcano on Ceres** We Earthlings typically associate volcanoes with smoky eruptions and flows of molten hot lava, but NASA announced in 2016 that its Dawn mission discovered a mountain on the dwarf exoplanet Ceres that showed signs of geologically recent releases of [an icy slush of frigid, salty water, sometimes mixed with mud](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/ceres-cryo-volcano). The volcanic mountain, Ahuna Mons, is not active now and is a rare find on dwarf planets. Scientists with NASA said that typically only planets or satellites orbiting have volcanic activity. It's not the only known cryovolcano; there's one on Saturn's moon Enceladus that has fountains of water-ice flowing from cracks in the icy crust at its southern pole. But it's the first cryovolcano discovered that produces the brine-clay mix, according to Lucy McFadden of NASA's Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt, Md. This side-perspective view of Ceres' mysterious mountain Ahuna Mons was made with images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. NASA/JPL/Dawn mission ![This image shows Enceladus' south pole, which has cryovolcanic activity. Enceladus is one of Saturn's moon.]() This image shows Enceladus' south pole, which has cryovolcanic activity. Enceladus is one of Saturn's moon. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute ![The planet with a glowing water atmosphereIn August 2017, scientists with NASA announced that they found the best evidence yet that there is an exoplanet outside our solar system that, like Earth, has a stratosphere, a layer of atmosphere with temperatures that increase at higher altitudes. And it has glowing water, according to the scientists who studied it using NASA Hubble Space Telescope.Starlight deeply penetrates the atmosphere of the exoplanet, WASP-121b, and raises the temperature of its gas. The gas radiates back into space as infrared light, which glow if the water molecules in the atmosphere are hot enough, which they are on WASP-121b. This photo shows the exoplanet, which is referred to as a "hot Jupiter" and has an atmosphere that can get as hot as 4,600 degrees. That's hot enough to boil many metals.]() **The planet with a glowing water atmosphere** In August 2017, scientists with NASA announced that they found the best evidence yet that there is an exoplanet outside our solar system that, like Earth, has a stratosphere, a layer of atmosphere with temperatures that increase at higher altitudes. And it has glowing water, [according to the scientists who studied it using NASA Hubble Space Telescope.](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6909) Starlight deeply penetrates the atmosphere of the exoplanet, WASP-121b, and raises the temperature of its gas. The gas radiates back into space as infrared light, which glow if the water molecules in the atmosphere are hot enough, which they are on WASP-121b. This photo shows the exoplanet, which is referred to as a "hot Jupiter" and has an atmosphere that can get as hot as 4,600 degrees. That's hot enough to boil many metals. NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STSci) ![The mysterious hexagon on Saturn's north poleA current of air is swirling around on Saturn's north pole in the shape of a hexagon, NASA discovered back in 1981 during its Voyager mission. Since then, scientists have put forth multiple theories for why the shape exists and has held relatively steady upon other missions to explore the planet.One theory is that while weather systems on Earth are broken up by things like ice caps or landscape, the constant vortex has been able to hold since Saturn is only made up of gas. Andrew Ingersoll, a Cassini imaging team member at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said that this hexagonal vortex may be decades old.]() **The mysterious hexagon on Saturn's north pole** A current of air is swirling around on Saturn's north pole in the shape of a hexagon, [NASA discovered](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=3969) back in 1981 during its Voyager mission. Since then, scientists have put forth multiple theories for why the shape exists and has held relatively steady upon other missions to explore the planet. One theory is that while weather systems on Earth are broken up by things like ice caps or landscape, the constant vortex has been able to hold since Saturn is only made up of gas. Andrew Ingersoll, a Cassini imaging team member at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said that this hexagonal vortex may be decades old. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists on Wednesday revealed the first image ever made of a black hole, depicting its hot, shadowy edges where light bends around itself in a cosmic funhouse effect.  Assembling data gathered by eight radio telescopes around the world, astronomers created the picture showing the violent neighborhood around a supermassive black hole, the light-sucking monsters of the universe theorized by Einstein more than a century ago and confirmed by observations for decades. Advertisement Article continues below this ad **MISSION MOON: The HoustonChronicle.com's in-depth look at how we became 'Space City'** It looked like a flaming orange, yellow and black ring. "We have seen what we thought was unseeable. We have seen and taken a picture of a black hole. Here it is," said Sheperd Doeleman of Harvard. Jessica Dempsey, a co-discoverer and deputy director of the East Asian Observatory in Hawaii, said it reminded her of the powerful flaming Eye of Sauron from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Unlike smaller black holes that come from collapsed stars, supermassive black holes are mysterious in origin. Situated at the center of most galaxies, including ours, they are so dense that nothing, not even light, can escape their gravitational pull. This one's "event horizon" — the point of no return around it, where light and matter begin to fall inexorably into the abyss — is as big as our entire solar system. > Black holes are among the most powerful things in the universe, defying the laws of physics, warping space and time and altering entire galaxies. Yet, they have never been seen. Until NOW \>\> <https://t.co/8whx9qr1IL> 📡📡🌎📡📡⚫️📷💕 [\#EHTblackhole](https://twitter.com/hashtag/EHTblackhole?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [\#realblackhole](https://twitter.com/hashtag/realblackhole?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/CcspQ6tKcs](https://t.co/CcspQ6tKcs) > > — EAO (@eao\_jcmt) [April 10, 2019](https://twitter.com/eao_jcmt/status/1115964468247375873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) Three years ago, scientists using an extraordinarily sensitive observing system heard the sound of two much smaller black holes merging to create a gravitational wave, as Albert Einstein predicted. The new image, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters and announced around the world in several news conferences, adds light to that sound. Outside scientists suggested the achievement could be worthy of a Nobel Prize, just like the gravitational wave discovery. Advertisement Article continues below this ad While much around a black hole falls into a death spiral and is never to be seen again, the new image captures "lucky gas and dust" circling at just far enough to be safe and seen millions of years later on Earth, Dempsey said. Taken over four days when astronomers had "to have the perfect weather all across the world and literally all the stars had to align," the image helps confirm Einstein's general relativity theory, Dempsey said. Einstein a century ago even predicted the symmetrical shape that scientists just found, she said. "It's circular, but on one side the light is brighter," Dempsey said. That's because that light is approaching Earth. **SPACE JUNK: Sign up for the newsletter bringing you all the coolest new discoveries** Advertisement Article continues below this ad The measurements are taken at a wavelength the human eye cannot see, so the astronomers added color to the image. They chose "exquisite gold because this light is so hot," Dempsey said. "Making it these warm gold and oranges makes sense." What the image shows is gas heated to millions of degrees by the friction of ever-stronger gravity, scientists said. And that gravity creates a funhouse effect where you see light from both behind the black hole and behind you as the light curves and circles around the black hole itself, said astronomer Avi Loeb, director of the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard. (The lead scientists in the discovery are from Harvard, but Loeb was not involved.) The project cost \$50 million to \$60 million, with \$26 million of that coming from the National Science Foundation. Johns Hopkins astrophysicist Ethan Vishniac, who was not part of the discovery team but edits the journal where the research was published, pronounced the image "an amazing technical achievement" that "gives us a glimpse of gravity in its most extreme manifestation." Advertisement Article continues below this ad He added: "Pictures from computer simulations can be very pretty, but there's literally nothing like a picture of the real universe, however fuzzy and monochromatic." "It's just seriously cool," said John Kormendy, a University of Texas astronomer who wasn't part of the discovery team. "To see the stuff going down the tubes, so to speak, to see it firsthand. The mystique of black holes in the community is very substantial. That mystique is going to be made more real." There is a myth that says a black hole would rip you apart, but Loeb and Kormendy said the one pictured is so big, someone could fall into it and not be torn to pieces. But the person would never be seen from again. Black holes are "like the walls of a prison. Once you cross it, you will never be able to get out and you will never be able to communicate," Loeb said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The first image is of a black hole in a galaxy called M87 that is about 53 million light years from Earth. One light year is 5.9 trillion miles, or 9.5 trillion kilometers. This black hole is about 6 billion times the mass of our sun. The telescope data was gathered by the Event Horizon Telescope two years ago, but it took so long to complete the image because it was a massive undertaking, involving about 200 scientists, supercomputers and hundreds of terabytes of data delivered worldwide by plane. The team looked at two supermassive black holes, the M87 and the one at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. The one in our galaxy is closer but much smaller, so they both look the same size in the sky. But the more distant one was easier to take pictures of because it rotates more slowly. "We've been hunting this for a long time," Dempsey said. "We've been getting closer and closer with better technology." Advertisement Article continues below this ad \_\_\_ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. April 10, 2019 \|Updated April 10, 2019 8:24 a.m. SETH BORENSTEIN Chron Logo ### Want more Chron? Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search. [Add Preferred Source](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=chron.com) Most Popular 1\. [Cold front to bring possible storms, drop temperatures in Texas](https://www.chron.com/weather/article/cold-front-storms-texas-22158169.php) 2\. 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![An undated handout photo provided by NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team shows a jet of subatomic particles, traveling at nearly the speed of light, as it streams from the center of the galaxy Messier 87. Lurking at the center of the galaxy, scientists believe, is a black hole with a mass 7 billion times that of our sun. At 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, a group of astronomers who run a globe-girdling network of radio telescopes called the Event Horizon Telescope are expected to unveil their long awaited pictures of a pair of putative black holes.\&nbsp;]() An undated handout photo provided by NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team shows a jet of subatomic particles, traveling at nearly the speed of light, as it streams from the center of the galaxy Messier 87. Lurking at the center of the galaxy, scientists believe, is a black hole with a mass 7 billion times that of our sun. At 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, a group of astronomers who run a globe-girdling network of radio telescopes called the Event Horizon Telescope are expected to unveil their long awaited pictures of a pair of putative black holes. Nasa Esa And The Hubble Heritage Team/NYT WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists on Wednesday revealed the first image ever made of a black hole, depicting its hot, shadowy edges where light bends around itself in a cosmic funhouse effect. Assembling data gathered by eight radio telescopes around the world, astronomers created the picture showing the violent neighborhood around a supermassive black hole, the light-sucking monsters of the universe theorized by Einstein more than a century ago and confirmed by observations for decades. Article continues below this ad **MISSION MOON: The HoustonChronicle.com's in-depth look at how we became 'Space City'** It looked like a flaming orange, yellow and black ring. "We have seen what we thought was unseeable. We have seen and taken a picture of a black hole. Here it is," said Sheperd Doeleman of Harvard. Jessica Dempsey, a co-discoverer and deputy director of the East Asian Observatory in Hawaii, said it reminded her of the powerful flaming Eye of Sauron from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Article continues below this ad Unlike smaller black holes that come from collapsed stars, supermassive black holes are mysterious in origin. Situated at the center of most galaxies, including ours, they are so dense that nothing, not even light, can escape their gravitational pull. This one's "event horizon" — the point of no return around it, where light and matter begin to fall inexorably into the abyss — is as big as our entire solar system. Three years ago, scientists using an extraordinarily sensitive observing system heard the sound of two much smaller black holes merging to create a gravitational wave, as Albert Einstein predicted. The new image, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters and announced around the world in several news conferences, adds light to that sound. Outside scientists suggested the achievement could be worthy of a Nobel Prize, just like the gravitational wave discovery. Article continues below this ad While much around a black hole falls into a death spiral and is never to be seen again, the new image captures "lucky gas and dust" circling at just far enough to be safe and seen millions of years later on Earth, Dempsey said. Taken over four days when astronomers had "to have the perfect weather all across the world and literally all the stars had to align," the image helps confirm Einstein's general relativity theory, Dempsey said. Einstein a century ago even predicted the symmetrical shape that scientists just found, she said. "It's circular, but on one side the light is brighter," Dempsey said. That's because that light is approaching Earth. **SPACE JUNK: Sign up for the newsletter bringing you all the coolest new discoveries** Article continues below this ad The measurements are taken at a wavelength the human eye cannot see, so the astronomers added color to the image. They chose "exquisite gold because this light is so hot," Dempsey said. "Making it these warm gold and oranges makes sense." What the image shows is gas heated to millions of degrees by the friction of ever-stronger gravity, scientists said. And that gravity creates a funhouse effect where you see light from both behind the black hole and behind you as the light curves and circles around the black hole itself, said astronomer Avi Loeb, director of the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard. (The lead scientists in the discovery are from Harvard, but Loeb was not involved.) The project cost \$50 million to \$60 million, with \$26 million of that coming from the National Science Foundation. Johns Hopkins astrophysicist Ethan Vishniac, who was not part of the discovery team but edits the journal where the research was published, pronounced the image "an amazing technical achievement" that "gives us a glimpse of gravity in its most extreme manifestation." Article continues below this ad He added: "Pictures from computer simulations can be very pretty, but there's literally nothing like a picture of the real universe, however fuzzy and monochromatic." "It's just seriously cool," said John Kormendy, a University of Texas astronomer who wasn't part of the discovery team. "To see the stuff going down the tubes, so to speak, to see it firsthand. The mystique of black holes in the community is very substantial. That mystique is going to be made more real." There is a myth that says a black hole would rip you apart, but Loeb and Kormendy said the one pictured is so big, someone could fall into it and not be torn to pieces. But the person would never be seen from again. Black holes are "like the walls of a prison. Once you cross it, you will never be able to get out and you will never be able to communicate," Loeb said. Article continues below this ad The first image is of a black hole in a galaxy called M87 that is about 53 million light years from Earth. One light year is 5.9 trillion miles, or 9.5 trillion kilometers. This black hole is about 6 billion times the mass of our sun. The telescope data was gathered by the Event Horizon Telescope two years ago, but it took so long to complete the image because it was a massive undertaking, involving about 200 scientists, supercomputers and hundreds of terabytes of data delivered worldwide by plane. The team looked at two supermassive black holes, the M87 and the one at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. The one in our galaxy is closer but much smaller, so they both look the same size in the sky. But the more distant one was easier to take pictures of because it rotates more slowly. "We've been hunting this for a long time," Dempsey said. "We've been getting closer and closer with better technology." Article continues below this ad \_\_\_ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. April 10, 2019 \|Updated April 10, 2019 8:24 a.m. SETH BORENSTEIN