The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has spotted something incredible in the Milky Way galaxy, which its team calls “groundbreaking”. But what exactly this discovery is, we won’t know until Thursday (May 12).
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team teased the discovery online, but the full announcement will take place during a series of press conferences at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) hosted by institutions around the world. The Milky Way Discovery events will also be streamed online for public viewing. After the press conferences, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) will host independent Q&A panels that will also be streamed online.
The EHT is a network of radio telescopes around the world that primarily studies black holes. In 2019, the EHT also teased a new discovery that turned out to be the first-ever image of a black hole. Whatever the discovery, it will certainly be fascinating. Below are details of the live webcasts that will air the EHT announcements, as well as the following Q&A sessions.
Related: 8 Ways We Know Black Holes Really Exist
National Science Foundation Webcast
May 12, 9 a.m. EDT (1 p.m. GMT)
The NSF will hold its press conference in Washington, DC, with a live online video broadcast on the NSF website and the foundation Facebook page.
European Southern Observatory webcast
May 12, 3:00 p.m. CEST (1:00 p.m. GMT)
ESO, which operates some of the facilities that assist with Event Horizon Telescope observations, will hold its press conference in Garching bei München, Germany, near Munich. The live video will be broadcast on the computer website and his Youtube channel.
National Council of Science and Technology Webcast
May 12, 8 a.m. CDT (1 p.m. GMT)
Mexico’s national science agency, CONACyT, will hold its press conference in Mexico City, and it will be broadcast on the agency’s airwaves Youtube channel.
Alma Observatory EHT Discovery Webcast
May 12, 9 a.m. CLT (1 p.m. GMT)
The Joint ALMA Observatory, which includes NRAO/NAOJ/ESO’s Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and ESO’s Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), both of which participate in the telescope’s observing campaigns Event Horizon, will host its press conference in Vitacura, Chile. Follow the live broadcast on the ALMA Observatory website
Post-EHT Announcement Q&A Panels
National Science Foundation, 10:30 a.m. EDT (2:30 p.m. GMT)
Following the main announcement, NSF will host a Q&A session with a panel of EHT researchers. It will be broadcast online at NSF website and the foundation Facebook page
Q&A on the European Southern Observatory, 4:30 p.m. CEST (2:30 p.m. GMT)
ESO will also host a Q&A session with a panel of EHT researchers that the public can watch on their Youtube channel.
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