The First Picture of a Black

Hole
Definition of a Black Hole
Defn.

-A cosmic body of extremely intense gravity from which nothing not

even light can escape.
The Picture
The Picture
- The black hole was found in a galaxy called M87

- 500 million trillion km away

- Mass: 6.5 billion times the Sun

- One of the heaviest black holes speculated to exist

- Can be seen because of the light it emits

How the Picture Was Taken
- Captured by a network of telescopes called the Event Horizon Telescope
(EHT)
Validation of Theories
According to Newton’s law on universal gravitation, everything with mass exhibits
a gravitational force relative to its mass and distance from other objects as it can
emit small particles called gravitons, which then produces gravity.

As a consequence of this law, Einstein’s theory of relativity shows that

gravitational force leads to a deformation in space, which causes light to deflect
into it.

Hence, with high-mass objects such as black holes, the deflection of light and
matter towards it is great enough to prevent their escape (QRG Northwestern
University, n.d.).
Gravitational Waves (Thought Process)
We can think of space-time as a fabric where the presence of large amount of
mass or energy will cause the fabric to warp. We experience this warpage as
gravity.

A more massive object will produce more powerful waves

Einstein’s mathematics showed that when two dense objects orbit each other,
space-time is disturbed and the ‘waves’ of the distorted space would radiate from
the source (stone thrown into a pond)
General Theory of Relativity
-formulated by Albert Einstein in 1916

-concerns gravity as a factor in macroscopic behaviour of celestial bodies

-the mathematical equations were tested several times, and is used to predict
gravitational interactions
Relation to Philosophy
-Further supports the point of Badiou about alienation of mathematics

-Pic of the Black hole is a huge leap for science and mathematics but outside the
field, its reception by the common people are only at a shallow level.

-The existence of black holes are based on a “hyperbolic”doubt and theory

-Mathematics transcends language and its particularity

-There are different perceptions from different fields about black holes
(multiplicity), but by collating these multiple truths, we may eventually arrive at the
Truth.
References
[QRG] Quality Reasoning Group. (n.d.). Why do mass and distance affect gravity? Retrieved in September 5, 2019 from:
http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-environment/3-mass-and-distance-affects-gravity.html

What is the General Theory of Relativity? Retrieved in September 5, 2018 from: https://www.sciencealert.com/general-relativity

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/news/2019/4/19/how-scientists-captured-the-first-image-of-a-black-hole/

https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/black-hole-first-photo-event-horizon-telescope

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47873592