Scientists recently used a special kind of technology called “machine learning” to make the first picture ever taken of a black hole. This new technique, called PRIMO, helps researchers study how black holes act and if some theories about gravity are right. It might also help experts in many other areas, such as searching for planets outside our solar system and treating illnesses.
Scientists have used technology to make the picture from the Event Horizon Telescope cooler and more detailed. This will help them better understand how black holes work, and how gravity behaves in extreme cases.
In 2019, people around the world were amazed by a special type of picture taken of a black hole located about 55 million light-years away from Earth. Scientists combined observations from many radio telescopes to make this picture, but due to missing parts it was not very clear. Medeiros et al. in 2023 ran simulations and used these results to create a computer algorithm called PRIMO which can help show clearer images of the same black hole.
Recently, astronomers from different countries collaborated together to discover a way of understanding black hole images better. They used something called PRIMO, which is a special machine learning technique. By using it, they managed to get the highest resolution ever recorded on their device. Lia Medeiros of the Institute for Advanced Study said that 30,000 simulated black hole images were analyzed in order to achieve this result.
PRIMO made the picture of the hot material swirling around a black hole more detailed and clear. According to Medeiros, this is important because it provides us with more information than just how nice the image looks.
We can’t study black holes from close up, so the quality of our images is very important to how much we can learn about them. The size of the circle in the recent image we captured is now about half as small as before, which will help make sure that what we think about black holes matches up with real life.
Medeiros and her team created a technique called PRIMO that looks closely at large sets of pictures to fill in any missing information. It’s similar to how AI researchers used an analysis of Beethoven’s music to make another piece of music that he had yet to finish.
Lots of computer-generated pictures were put into the special PRIMO model to show the gas spinning around M87’s black hole. The best fitting images were mixed together to create a high-definition version of what was missing from the data. Then, that image was reshaped to fit in with the EHT’s maximum resolution.
The scientists say the new picture could help them learn more about the size and weight of a special black hole called M87’s. This knowledge could also help us to find proof that certain theories about black holes and gravity are right.
The scientists have designed a new technology, called PRIMO, which can help them get clearer pictures of M87 and Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole in the middle of our Milky Way galaxy. It could even be used to benefit different fields – from studying planets outside our solar system to medical research. So this amazing invention can really make a big difference!
Recently, a group of scientists published an article about the image of a M87 black hole. It was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and it is called “The Image of the M87 Black Hole Reconstructed with PRIMO”. This article talks all about what they found out while researching this black hole.
