Black Holes Up Close

Abstract

Recent developments have ushered in a new era in the field of black hole astrophysics, providing our first direct view of the remarkable environment near black hole event horizons. These observations have enabled astronomers to confirm long-standing ideas on the physics of gas flowing into black holes with temperatures that are hundreds of times greater than at the center of the Sun. At the same time, the observations have conclusively shown that light rays near a black hole experience large deflections which cause a dark shadow in the center of the image, an effect predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity. With further investment, this field is poised to deliver decades of advances in our understanding of gravity and black holes through new and stringent tests of General Relativity, as well as new insights into the role of black holes as the central engines powering a wide range of astronomical phenomena.

arXiv comment15 pages, 4 Figs; Nature Perspective

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Polarimetry and Astrometry of NIR Flares as Event Horizon Scale, Dynamical Probes for the Mass of Sgr A*
• The Black Hole Explorer: Motivation and Vision
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• Explanation for the absence of secondary peaks in black hole light curve autocorrelations
• Overmassive black holes in the early Universe can be explained by gas-rich, dark matter-dominated galaxies
• Observational signatures from higher-order images of moving hotspots in accretion disks
• Investigating non-Keplerian motion in flare events with astrometric data
• Gravito-thermal transports, Onsager reciprocal relation and gravitational Wiedemann-Franz law
• Auto- and cross-correlations for multiple images of corotating hotspots in accretion disks
• High Energy Emission from the Galactic Center