Speaker: Paul Tiede, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
February 14, 2026
5:00 – 5:45 pm

Cosmic Donuts: Imaging Black Holes—From Earth and Beyond

Black holes are some of the most illuminating yet mysterious objects in the universe. While they have been studied for decades, their nature and behavior remain hidden. Only recently have astronomers been able to image black holes right up to the point of no return: the event horizon. In this talk, Paul Tiede will introduce what black holes are, how scientists used a telescope the size of Earth to capture the first-ever image of a black hole’s shadow, and why it looks like a cosmic donut. We’ll then explore what has changed since that first image was released in 2019, the biggest unanswered questions, and how future space instruments like Black Hole Explorer could transform today’s fuzzy snapshots into a high-definition video near the black hole’s edge.

Tickets & Important Information

Time: Second Saturday of every month, 5:00 pm
Duration: Approximately 40 minutes
Cost: $6 for members, $7 for non-members (per person). General museum admission will not be charged for attendees arriving after 4:30 pm on Speaker Series days.
Location: Alden Planetarium
Age Range: All ages are welcome. Recommended 15+

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