European officials are expected to announce the first ever image of a black hole at a press event scheduled for 15:00 CEST on April 10. The conference will be held by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project, European Commission, and European Research Council, according to an announcement by the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), and it will involve the presentation of 'a groundbreaking result from the EHT.

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The Event Horizon Telescope project has been operating with the goal of capturing an image of a black hole. Until now, all videos and images of black holes are simulations based on what scientists know about them. As explained on the EHT website, the project involves radio dishes around the world that are linked together to form 'a fundamentally new instrument' for observing a black hole.

The EHT project has focused on Sagittarius A* (aka, SgrA*), the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, and M87, the black hole at the center of the Virgo A galaxy. ESO's press conference invite didn't specify whether the EHT announcement will concern SgrA* or M87, however. Given EHT's goal, it's reasonable to guess that the team will unveil humanity's first image of a black hole.

2019-4-4 20:45