What a black hole looks like

A dark shadow and a ring of light

The black hole itself cannot be seen. Gas racing around it gets extremely hot and glows brightly. Light from the far side of the disk bends and shows up above and below the black hole. In the middle remains a dark shadow, where light could not turn back out. Drag the screen to look around it.

Why?In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope, which links radio telescopes all over Earth, took the first picture of a black hole’s shadow, at the center of the galaxy M87. In 2022, it showed the black hole at the center of our own galaxy.

Learn moreA black hole does not suck everything in like a vacuum cleaner. If the Sun were replaced by a black hole of the same mass, Earth would keep going around in the same orbit. It is only dangerous when you get very close. This 3D model is an artist’s model that shows the real look roughly.

Clock we are watching

A clock where light circles the black hole

How much slower

25 min slower per hour

Clock rate

0.58

seconds this clock ticks while a clock far away in empty space ticks one second · calculated with the formulas of relativity