On April 10, 2019 astronomers announced that they were able to capture the image of a black hole. After two years of analysis using 6 telescopes, the image of a black hole in the Messier 87 galaxy was captured.

According to Eintsein’s theory, black holes are created when so much matter is in one place that the gravitational force becomes so strong that it beings to pull in everything else around it. The force is so strong that it even traps light which would cause it to look like a black hole in space.

What was once a theory is now reality. The image that was recently taken supports Einstein’s claim as it shows how as the matter gets pulled into the hole it creates a ring of light and then the actual black hole is a dark circle. This is an amazing achievement which I believe will then lead to better imaging and the possibility of taking images of things that are much farther from us on Earth.

More telescopes will be added to the network to continue analyzing the black hole to check for any changes and take images of other black holes.

Thanks to this image, astronomers are one step closer to understanding this phenomena. Yet along with this came the picture of  Katie Bouman, one of the members on the team who created the algorithm used to capture the photo. Her picture went viral on twitter which then lead to people applying the “lone genius” trope, thinking that she alone was able to program the algorithm , and others stating that she didn’t do it, but rather a man. Everyone on the team has stated that it was a group effort, and that everyone played a significant role.

This backlash against Bouman sheds a light on how woman in STEM are often looked down upon and are thought of as not being capable enough. I believe that it is important to point out that Bouman never claimed to be the one that came up with the algorithm and the team does not see one member being above the other. People need to recognize that ones gender does not affect what they are capable of and need to understand that more women in STEM need to be shown. Not because they are better than men, but because they need to see that it is possible.

Articles used:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/science/black-hole-picture.html

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/4/16/18311194/black-hole-katie-bouman-trolls