The photo of the black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87, named M87*, was released in 2019. Thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, this image has now been improved and has become even sharper and more precise.
A first image of a giant black hole centered in the galaxy messier 8755 million light-years from Earth, was presented in 2019. The team of American researchers led by Lia Medeiros from the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) published a study in Astrophysical Journal Letters presents a “new reconstruction” of this image thanks to the international collaboration of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT).
An AI has refined the image of the black hole M87*
The researchers used a model called PRIMO (Principal-Component Interferometric Modeling) to clean up the image. According to scientists at NoirLab (research and development center), this achieves the maximum definition.
« Thanks to our new PRIMO machine learning technique, we were able to achieve the maximum resolution of the network [de télescope] current “, explains the lead author of the work, astrophysicist Lia Medeiros.
Best Black Hole Image: What Consequences?
The new image is sharper because it contains more data, a major advance for an object 55 million light-years away. According to the study’s authors, this has important implications for measuring the mass of M87’s central black hole. The improvement in the image allows the outlines of the black hole to be observed more clearly, which is essential for understanding its behavior.
« Because we can’t study black holes up close, the details of an image play a crucial role in our ability to understand their behavior. The width of the ring in the image is now a factor of two smaller, imposing a severe limitation on our theoretical models and gravity tests. », explained Lia Medeiros.
Although it may seem paradoxical, a black hole is sharper because it’s darker. The object itself is what is actually seen at center, as it is surrounded by an orange halo made up of rotating swallowed gas.
AI Enhanced Image: Unreliable Graphics?
The simulations used to interpret the image of M87* are based on theoretical models, as scientists still don’t fully understand the nature of black holes and need to test the laws of physics around them to better understand them. Heino Falcke, professor of radio astronomy and astroparticle physics, calls the result a “reasonable guess” rather than an image. He therefore emphasizes that the representation obtained through this method is based on hypotheses and theoretical models rather than direct observation.
Still, Lia Medeiros states that M87* is just the beginning. PRIMO will likely also be used for other astronomical images, such as the black hole in our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
