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The first black hole image helped test general relativity in a new way

The Event Horizon Telescope’s snapshot of M87’s black hole once again shows Einstein was right

illustration of light swirling around a black hole

Simulations of the way light and matter move around the supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy M87, like the one shown here, helped physicists pin down the size of the shadow the black hole casts on surrounding material. That size is crucial in tests of general relativity.

L. Medeiros

By Lisa Grossman

- More than 2 years ago

When the first-ever image of a black hole was released in April 2019, it marked a powerful confirmation of Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity, or general relativity.