The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has achieved the highest resolution observations ever from Earth by detecting light at 345 GHz from the centers of distant galaxies. This higher frequency allows for sharper images and insights into black holes and their environments.
By using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) across multiple telescopes, the EHT creates extremely high resolution equivalent to an Earth-sized telescope. Observing at 345 GHz provides about 50% greater angular resolution compared to previous 230 GHz observations.
However, 345 GHz posed challenges due to greater atmospheric interference. The EHT overcame this by improving bandwidth and waiting for ideal weather conditions. Key sites like ALMA and SMA helped mitigate these issues.
The sharper 345 GHz images offer clearer views of phenomena like light bending near supermassive black holes and magnetic field structures. This could enable observations like photon rings near black hole event horizons.
These detections set the stage for time-lapse movies of dynamic environments like Sagittarius A* and advances scientific understanding of jets, accretion, and more. The success pushes boundaries for ground-based astrophysical research and discovery of black hole mysteries.
Source: The Brighter Side of News
