The first image of a black hole

Scientific developments

Discovery of the M87 galaxy

Messier 87, or M87, is one of the 110 night sky objects identified by the French astronomer Charles Messier. In 1771, Messier published an astronomical catalogue that listed all of the nebulae, star clusters and galaxies he identified; in 1781, he revised his catalogue, adding objects. The last additions, that made up the number 110, were made by contemporary astronomers in the 1960s, based on the observations of Messier.

Charles Messier (1730-1817), French astronomer, at age 40.

The first image of a black hole

On April 10, 2019, the first image ever captured of a black hole was presented to the public. But what were the events that lead to this discovery?