Explained: First ever observed black hole

If you could fly next to the supermassive black hole M87*, this is what you would see. Full Text: 55-million light years from Earth, at the heart of galaxy Messier 87 lies a monster black hole. Weighing in at 6.5 billion times the mass of our sun, it distorts spacetime like few objects in the universe. It has enshrouded itself in a swirling disk of super-hot energy and matter, and radiates unimaginably powerful jets above and below. Closer to the black hole, tremendous gravitation bends photons and particles far from intended paths. Those that get too close, get pulled in, never to escape. They’ve crossed a point of no return known as the event horizon. The strange environment creates not only a black hole but a surrounding shadow, with escaping photons forming a ring That ring of light makes its way to Earth, where it was captured by an Earth-spanning observatory collaboration called the Event Horizon Telescope project. Anchored by more than $28 million of sustained investment by the National Science Foundation, later joined by international support. The project captured this image. [first ever recorded image of a black hole] Not simulation or conjecture, but chaotic photons surrounding an unimaginable void. This is the world's first true look at a black hole.