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Black hole

M87*

Also M87 black hole · Powehi

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M87* — Event Horizon Telescope, radio at 1.3 mm
Event Horizon Telescope, radio at 1.3 mm. Credit: EHT Collaboration. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Source

The supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy Messier 87, the first black hole ever imaged.

Measured

Distance
about 53.5 million light-years (published estimates 51.8 million–55.1 million)
Constellation
Virgo
Position (J2000)
RA 12h 30m 49s, Dec +12.39°

How far, from the Sun

About 53.5 million light-years. To cross it:

  • Light53.5 million years
  • Voyager 1's speed951 billion years
  • Driving at 100 km/h577 trillion years

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

  • It is about 6.5 billion times the Sun's mass.
  • The Event Horizon Telescope released its image in April 2019, the first picture of a black hole.
  • Its glowing ring spans about 42 microarcseconds on the sky.

Where this comes from

  • Distance of Messier 87, Bird et al. 2010, A&A 524, A71 (16.4 ± 0.5 Mpc)

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.