Researchers investigate the effects of dark matter particles on the growth of black hole shadows. 

A conversation with Deccan Herald, Prof Rajaram Nityananda, a well-known Indian physicist who is now a Professor at the Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, sheds some light on how scientists captured the image of a black hole and the role of radio astronomy in this achievement.

On April 26 2019, scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo Interferometer detected gravitational waves from a possible black hole-neutron star collision thought to have taken place 1.2 billion light years away. The event was observed by both LIGO observatories, based in Louisiana and Washington state in the USA, and the Virgo facility based in the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) in Italy.

Scientists have revealed the first ever photograph of a supermassive black hole present at the heart of the distant galaxy Messier 87 in the Virgo constellation. The image, released today shows the shadow of a black hole.

C V Vishweshwara or “Vishu” as he was known to all, was born on 6th March 1938, in Karnataka. He finished most of his schooling in Bengaluru and then his graduation in Mysore University. For his PhD, he moved to Columbia University and later to University of Maryland in USA, to work on general relativity. On returning to India, Vishu joined Raman Research Institute in Bengaluru and then later joined the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.