On May 12, 2022, the global Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration unveiled the landmark first image of the black hole at the heart of our own Milky Way galaxy, called Sagittarius A* (or Sgr A*). On this special episode of Conversations at the Perimeter, Lauren and Colin talk with astrophysicist Avery Broderick about the significance of this discovery. He explains how the EHT collaboration created an “Earth-sized telescope” – a network of eight radio telescopes on five continents, all focussed on a single spot on the night sky: the heart of the Milky Way, 27,000 light-years from Earth. Broderick holds the Delaney Family John Archibald Wheeler Chair at Perimeter, and is an associate faculty member jointly appointed to Perimeter and the University of Waterloo. He also leads the EHT Initiative at Perimeter Institute, which is one of the 13 partner organizations in the EHT. Although his childhood dream of voyaging through the universe on the Starship Enterprise remains out of reach, Broderick says hunting black holes (or "fire donuts," as he playfully calls them) is the next-best thing.
For more on the news, check out our story.
Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.
The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate