Telescope milestone

Astronomer explains the world’s sharpest images

Astronomer Peter Habison looks at the stars and explains where the research journey is heading.(Bild: Stock Adobe, Habison, Lizenzfrei/Habison, Christian M. Fromm/Julius-Maximilian University, Würzburg)

In 2019, a blurry ring of light was the first image of a black hole to cause a sensation. Since then, researchers have not only "sharpened" the image using AI, but thanks to a telescope collaboration, the highest resolution ever achieved from Earth has been achieved. An astronomer explains the technology that makes this possible, what the milestone means for research and how "sharp" images can still become.

Scientific "milestones" or "quantum leaps" are one of those things. They are used to describe major achievements, even though they may revolve around something very small. But the balancing act is by no means just linguistic. If quantum or particle physicists want to unlock the secrets of the often seemingly "crazy" world of the smallest units, they sometimes do so with huge particle accelerators such as those at CERN in Geneva.

When looking into the depths of interstellar space, a bridge must also be built between large and small in order to achieve breakthroughs. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, an association of (radio) telescopes scattered across the globe, has now succeeded in doing just that.