Seeing Black Holes : from the Computer to the Telescope

TL;DR

This paper discusses the transition from computer simulations to actual telescopic observations of the black hole at the Galactic Center, highlighting the unprecedented data collection and upcoming image reconstruction.

Contribution

It bridges the gap between four decades of numerical simulations and the imminent observational imaging of a black hole using the Event Horizon Telescope.

Findings

Massive data collected exceeds previous scientific records

First telescopic image of a black hole expected in 2018

Historical link between simulations and observations established

Abstract

Astronomical observations are about to deliver the very first telescopic image of the massive black hole lurking at the Galactic Center. The mass of data collected in one night by the Event Horizon Telescope network, exceeding everything that has ever been done in any scientific field, should provide a recomposed image during 2018. All this, forty years after the first numerical simulations done by the present author.