04.19.2019

Press Conference on the First-ever Images of a Black Hole Held at the Kioi Conference

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A press conference was held to announce the Event Horizon Telescope results at the Kioi Conference in the Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho, managed and operated by JCS, on Wednesday, April 10, 2019. Scientists successfully obtained the first-ever images to prove the existence of a huge black hole and its shadow, and they announced the achievement in six cities worldwide at the same time. Reporters both roared and took pictures.

Thus far, there has been indirect evidence of black holes. Professor Mareki Honma from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the representative of the Japanese research team, announced that they had succeeded in capturing the images of a black hole as a visual evidence. Assistant Professor Kazuhiro Hada, who also attended the press conference, smiled and said, “It took 10 years to reach this stage, and I am filled with emotion.” Their achievement was published as a series of academic essays in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, an academic journal dealing with astronomy and astrophysics.

At the press conference

• Kioi Conference

  Advanced conference having world-class facilities and services (available only in Japanese)

  Official Website