Researched
Black Holes (Cygnus X-1)
In 1971-72 astronomers link the bright X-ray source Cygnus X-1 to a star with an unseen, very compact partner: the first strong black hole candidate.
Open in the interactive tree →Schwarzschild had found the black hole solution of relativity in 1916, and X-ray satellites such as Uhuru made the sky visible in X-rays. Black holes then moved from theory to observed objects, leading to LIGO and the Event Horizon Telescope.
Prerequisites
Unlocks
- Gravitational Waves Detected2015LIGO's first signal came from merging black holes
- First Black Hole Images (EHT)2019Observations of black hole candidates led to imaging their shadows
Sources
More in Space & Astronomy · Atomic & Space Age
- First satellite (Sputnik)1957
- Apollo Guidance Computer1961-1969
- First human in space1961
- Pulsars1967
- Moon landing1969
- Space stations1971
- Deep-space probes (Voyager)1977
- Space Shuttle1981