For The First Time Ever Astronomers Have Detected Visible Light From A Black Hole

Wait I thought nothing could escape from a black hole?

Some of the light was co bright you could see it with a “regular” telescope. Wow usually when we think about black holes we envision using super powerful telescopes such as The Hubble or The ESO. In addition, we are taught that nothing, even light can escape one of these which is still true. However, there is a twist:

For the first time, astronomers have observed bursts of visible light being released by a black hole as it swallows matter from nearby stars.

These flashes of light, which lasted between several minutes to a few hours, were seen coming from a black hole in the Cygnus constellation, located about 7,800 light-years away from Earth. Incredibly, some of the flashes were so bright, the team says amateur astronomers could see them with a modest 20-cm telescope.

A lot of home astronomers have such a device and you could actually purchase one.

Let’s find out more about how light can be detected if it can’t escape on page 2