How Do You Take a Picture of a Black Hole?

Harvard astrophysicist Shep Doeleman led a team of 250 researchers who linked radio telescopes around the world into a network called the Event Horizon Telescope to capture the first images of black holes, including a supermassive black hole in galaxy M87 and one at the center of our galaxy. By essentially turning Earth into a giant telescope, the team was able to photograph the shadow of black holes and test theoretical predictions about these exotic cosmic objects. Doeleman discusses how this breakthrough was achieved and reveals that movies of black holes may be possible by the early 2030s.