Photographing a Black Hole: Historic Campaign Now Underway

The campaign to capture the first-ever image of a black hole has begun. From today (April 5) through April 14, astronomers will use a system of radio telescopes around the world to peer at the gigantic black hole at the center of the Milky Way, a behemoth called Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) that's 4 million times more massive than the sun. The researchers hope to photograph Sgr A*'s event horizon — the "point of no return" beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape.