First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. IV. Imaging the Central Supermassive Black Hole

Understand

We present the first Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) images of M87, using observations from April 2017 at 1.3 mm wavelength.

• These images show a prominent ring with a diameter of ~40 micro-as, consistent with the size and shape of the lensed photon orbit encircling the "shadow" of a supermassive black hole.
• The ring is persistent across four observing nights and shows enhanced brightness in the south.
• To assess the reliability of these results, we implemented a two-stage imaging procedure.