An Ontario scientist that was part of a global team unveiling the world's first captured image of a black hole says the picture helps make science fiction into science fact.
Avery Broderick of the University of Waterloo and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics says the image also offers further support for Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Broderick was one of 200 global researchers taking part in the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, a group of scientists around the world bent on proving the existence of black holes and documenting what they look like — despite the fact that the cosmic entities do not reflect any light.
They created the image of a black hole by compiling data from eight earth-based telescopes positioned around the world.
The photo was unveiled in Washington D.C. this morning, with scientists saying the result allowed them to "see the unseeable."
Broderick says a better understanding of black holes will help scientists to bridge the knowledge gap between classical and quantum physics.
ONTARIO RESEARCHER AMONG GLOBAL TEAM UNVEILING FIRST IMAGE OF A BLACK HOLE
An international team of researchers that includes an Ontario scientist is to unveil the first captured image of a black hole.
The picture was compiled by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, a group of scientists around the world bent on proving the existence of black holes and documenting what they look like despite the fact that they cannot release light.
The team includes Avery Broderick, an astrophysicist and associate professor at the University of Waterloo.
The image was compiled with help from eight earth-based telescopes around the world.
Researchers say their findings help offer further support of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, first announced in 1915.
Broderick and other researchers are to show the image of a black hole at a news conference in Washington D.C. at around 9:00 a.m.
NASA says a black hole is a region in space where the pulling force of gravity is so strong that light is not able to escape and that some black holes are a result of dying stars.