by 2019, was to Heino Falcke (53), the most impressive year of his own life. The German astronomer made the first photograph of a black hole. It brought him worldwide fame, as well as heart disease. This is his story.

“If we look at the very gates of hell, at the end of the universe”, so it took Falcke, the image of the whole workspace object striking together.

in Nijmegen, the active professor, you showed the world the ‘black hole’ in april, during a press conference in Brussels, belgium, is the result of the experiment is that, in 2000, he has already figured out. The international astronomers of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) were also in the news, in the six concurrent meeting with press to the world.

To estimate that cutting the 4.5 billion people who live on the week of the photo of the super-massive black hole, and its shadow. Both astronomers and lay people were aware that history was being written. The strong wetenschapstijdschrift Science has chosen the photograph, even up to the Breakthrough of the Year.

the ‘black hole’ in the picture have been the eight radio telescopes around the world are linked to each other. Together, they constitute a single, large, virtual instrument. The super-massive black hole, from which the photo was taken with a diameter of up to 38 billion kilometers. The ruimtemonster, it is 6.5 billion times as heavy as the sun, and it is located in the centre of the galaxy Messier 87, about 55 million light-years away from earth. (Photo: Pro-Shots).

“I’m still the same, to be honest, it was a team effort. I found it to be a very special experience, that of colleagues, to me, came to tell me how the picture had ever experienced. I have heard even one story of a fellow from Argentina who is ready to cry. However, the people allow me to be me and to express my thanks. It was a very special experience.”

“In June of 2018, but that’s not the final version. At the decisive meeting held in Nijmegen, wanted to be the American counterparts to the windows with tape, because they were afraid that someone might be watching. However, if you would look at it and don’t know what it is about, then the picture is worthless. You can also use it as a shakedown to see. It’s going to be the story behind it.”

“I didn’t expect it to be so good, would be better. Also, We were lucky as the weather was fantastic. The hole was also smaller than we thought, and then the shadows could not be seen.”
Black holes and dark matter, in a nutshell, A black hole is an object in space, where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape, not even light. Living in a black hole, being torn apart into a spaghettisliert. A black hole is formed if a star is at the end of its life, it explodes, and the remnants implode. Black holes cannot be seen, but the so-called waarnemingshorizon well. This is an area in which even the light can escape from it. Albert Einstein predicted such a limit. In most of these galaxies is a black hole in the center. In the center of our milky way Galaxy is a black hole, i.e. Sagittarius A*.

“for The first three months we were very busy with the preparation of the publication of the photograph. It was almost as if we’re in a pressure-cooker night.”

“at the same time, I had to have a press conference prepared for the European Commission. Thus, a major scientific conference they had never been there. But for me, it was all new and fresh.”

“in the end, it looked like three million people have to live with it. It felt like a moment of redemption. Finally, I was allowed to talk about it.”

the Astronomer Heino Falcke works at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, and is also a pastor. (Photo: Radboud University (nijmegen/the Dick van Aalst, belgium).

“The photograph was in all the papers. That way, the world decided that it was a moment in time. In retrospect, I have learned that the 4.5 billion people in the photograph have given.”

“I have a whole week to get to interviews and lectures, to be given, such as Oxford, Paris, and Stockholm, to really great places.”

“It’s had a big impact on an individual. My batteries were low. In fact, for the first time in my life that I have heart problems, have had it. I have sometimes day and night, sitting down to write. At a certain point, you and your family again.”

the Astronomers present the first photograph ever of a black hole ” < / p>

“The scientific evidence that black holes do exist, it is very important to us. It is only an experiment, a theory, a reality.”

“On the basis of the picture, you can find all kinds of scientific theories to test, or exclude it. This is because it is the first time that we have this kind of data is in your hands.”

“at the same time, we are still working on analyzing the data and preparing for the next campaign. The main goal is to get a second shot, or even to make a short film, the black hole at the center of the milky way Galaxy.”

“We want to have a number of telescopes around the world from spinning, which together with the black hole in the future. We are also planning a new radio telescope in Africa to build it up. Now, we should all still get funded.”

Heino Falcke Occupation: Professor of radio astronomy and astroparticle physics, affiliated to the Radboud University in Nijmegen, the netherlands. Place of birth: Cologne, Germany year of Birth: 1966 Notes: Falcke, won the 2011 spinoza prize, the highest Dutch award in science. He received a 2.5 million euro for his research on black holes and dark matter, and cosmic ray particles.

“It has been misunderstood. The money was meant for communication and not for research.”

“The debate was driven by emotion and not based on any factual information. Colleagues will recall, on Twitter and just the things that are not good for the background, and the media to tackle it. It was an example of the frustration, and the big push in the scientific community to submit applications to write to it.”

“in Order for the research to be able to put more money is needed, and there is no change to that. In Europe alone, at least 10 million.”

“Yes. When we went to the stock market, the European Union has won the match, it was a chance for only 2 percent of the time. I am not afraid of the competition, but it takes months and months of time and energy to imagine and write.”

“you See, it was the news of the world (in the picture, ed.), but it wasn’t so much that they are everywhere else in the world knew that the Netherlands played an important role. We need to continue to fight for our place here.”

“It may be, the universe doesn’t care whether we are there or not.”

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“In physics, a black hole is a mysterious object. This is the most bizarre place in the universe, where time will stand still. If it is, it seems that the rest of the universe is much, much faster, it’s a kind of fast-forward.”

“Previously, we were only in the world of science fiction, to black holes and dark matter a look. Now that we have it, a glimpse of that taken care of, how blurry it is. The big question that remains is how the theory of relativity of Albert Einstein and quantum theory can be reconciled.”

“I don’t have a clue. This morning, someone has a revolutionary idea on the basis of our data. It is more likely that it is not a short-term resolve, and within a hundred years. Perhaps even always be a bit of a secret.”

Shanghai, China). Washington, D. C., United States Of America. Santiago, Chile, Heino Falcke presents the first-ever photograph of a black hole, at a joint press conference in Brussels, belgium.

“On the basis of the laws of physics, you can look no further than the waarnemingshorizon of a black hole. Unless the physics is something to consider in order to make this fundamental limit is to stop it.”

“it’s like death: You can be a black hole, go in, and just like death, you know, maybe there is one or not. But you can not tell anyone what you have seen.”

“Sometimes, if I want to talk about the universe, or do I use a scientific subject. That is, for example, of the beauty and the majesty and the meaning of the human being in it. We like to think we are so big and powerful, but compared to the universe and allow us to. It may be, the universe doesn’t care whether we are there or not.”

“the story of The creation is incredibly beautiful and the good. I don’t believe there is anything out of nothing, it is created. You’ve still got the word from where you are doing. For me, it starts with the rules, it must be something at the beginning. I call them ” God.”

“of christianity makes the case that faith, hope, and love-all were there in the beginning, and that it is not a random event and that the universe came into being.”

Chinese students take a selfie with a picture of a black hole. (Photo: Reuters)