The first simulation of a black hole in 1979 vs the first image of a black hole in 2019

 

The first simulation of a black hole in 1979 vs the first image of a black hole in 2019:

In 1979, French astrophysicist Jean-Pierre Luminet created the first simulated image of a black hole surrounded by an accretion disk. Using early computers, mathematical equations, and even India ink, Luminet painstakingly hand-drew the black hole simulation. 

 

He placed ink dots more densely where his calculations showed the most light, creating a visual model of what such an object might look like. Notably, Luminet speculated that his simulation applied to the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87 — a prediction decades ahead of its time.

 

In 2019, Luminet’s vision came full circle when the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global network of synchronized observatories, captured the first real image of a black hole, located in the center of M87. 

 

This black hole, billions of times the Sun’s mass, required an astonishing 5 petabytes of raw data to produce its historic image. Each of the telescopes in the EHT network generated around 350 terabytes of data per day, which was later combined to reveal the glowing, ring-like structure surrounding the black hole’s shadow. Together, these achievements showcase the remarkable progress of astrophysics—from hand-drawn predictions to real-time images that deepen our understanding of the cosmos.