Explained: why the new black hole picture is so significant

Matthew Lister is a professor of physics and astronomy in the College of Science at Purdue University. In this video, he describes how astronomers were able to capture the first image of the Milky Way’s black hole, and why it is so significant.

This is the second black hole ever photographed, and first of the one at the center of the Milky Way. Because of an additional telescope at the South Pole, Lister says the photo has a higher-resolution and can be studied more.

He says this confirms the mass of the black hole at the center of our galaxy, which is about 4 million times the size of the sun. Lister says photos like this are important to study how gravity and quantum mechanics work together.