The 1st photo of the Milky Way's monster black hole has scientists over the moon. Here's why.

Astronomers have wondered what is at the center of the universe. The first-ever photo of the supermassive black hole was released today, offering a completely new view of our home galaxy.

The historic image of what scientists call Sagittarius A*, captured by a worldwide telescope array called the event horizon telescope, confirms a black hole in the heart of the universe.

I wish I could tell you that the second time is better than the first. That wouldn't be true. Feryalzel, the EHT modeling lead and a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Arizona, said during a press conference Thursday that it is actually better.

There are 8 ways we know that black holes exist.

zel has been looking at the black hole since she was a graduate student. We now know that what we see is the heart of the black hole, and that it was not a coincidence.

It felt like a reunion of old friends, she said, likening it to meeting an online friend for the first time.

The research could not prepare the team for the emotional impact of the discovery.

There is a hole in the center that has 4 million solar mass. That is incredible.

The range of disciplines and people it took to capture Sgr A* was paid tribute to by the assistant professor of computing and mathematical sciences at the California Institute of Technology.

It is pretty amazing what we were able to do, by bringing together people with lots of different expertise, said Bouman in the same press conference.

The initial data from Sgr A* was not generated by the EHT team. Sgr A* was considered a more difficult target to reveal than the black hole at the heart of M87, even though it is just half as far away.

Sgr A* is a black hole with a mass of 4.3 million suns and a more dynamic environment than the M87. New images show that it was possible to capture our black hole.

"As a member of the collaboration, I am very proud that we have been able to not let all these challenges stop us from still going."

We were not afraid of the uncertainty and the missing information. She said that they figured out ways to deal with it. I think it is exciting. What is more cool than seeing the black hole in the center of our own Milky Way?

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