Unseen at Last - The Black Hole in M87 by Rajaram Nityananda

Explore the groundbreaking discovery of the black hole at the center of galaxy M87 in this comprehensive lecture by Rajaram Nityananda. Delve into the three key aspects that led to this achievement: the behavior of matter and light near black holes, their role in galactic center phenomena, and the advanced techniques enabling unprecedented angular resolution. Learn about the Michell/Laplace calculation, Very Long Baseline interferometry, and the principles of accretion onto black holes. Gain insights into the challenges of imaging such distant objects and the significance of this discovery for our understanding of the universe. The lecture concludes with a discussion on the current status and future prospects of black hole research, followed by an engaging Q&A session.

DATE: 29 April 2019, 16:00 to
Introduction
Unseen at last: the black hole in M87
Michell / Laplace calculation
M87 is a galaxy with ten times as many stars as our own Milky Way
A lens forms an image by collecting the waves from all points on its aperture
1 parsec = 3.26 light years
Angular resolution needed to see the black hole
Very Long Baseline interferometry
Best "picture" of M87 before the EHT image
Broken Lens equivalent to EHT
From 'Einstein Centenary Symposium' 1980
Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place
Accretion on to a black hole
Conserving angular momentum and dissipating energy : rubbing two rings together
Photon orbits near a black hole
Status and prospects
Q&A