Black Hole Initiative - Harvard University

Black Hole Initiative - Harvard University The first worldwide center to focus on the study of black holes.

Every year at the BHI, we celebrate the people who have helped shape our community before they begin exciting new chapte...
08/28/2026

Every year at the BHI, we celebrate the people who have helped shape our community before they begin exciting new chapters in their careers. Today, we recognize Hyerin Cho as she completes her graduate studies at the BHI.

During her PhD, Hyerin worked with BHI PI Ramesh Narayan to understand how black holes shape the Universe. Her research developed new computational methods and general relativistic simulations that connect the physics at a black hole’s event horizon to the evolution of entire galaxies, advancing our understanding of black hole accretion and feedback across vast cosmic scales. To cap it all off, she received the 2026 ITC Keto Prize, awarded each year for the best thesis in theoretical astrophysics by a student at the CfA, as selected by the Senior Members of the ITC.

Hyerin was always one of the first people in the office in the morning, and her cheerful laugh was often one of the first things you would hear when you arrived. A yogi and a dancer as well as a dedicated researcher, it is hard to imagine how she managed to fit it all in!

Hyerin is heading to Korea for a summer break with family and friends before beginning her postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech and the University of Toronto.

We’ll miss having Hyerin at the BHI and wish her all the best as she begins this exciting next chapter. We can’t wait to see what’s next!

Looking for some color inspo? You don’t have to look any further than the colors of a black hole throughout time.Next up...
08/27/2026

Looking for some color inspo? You don’t have to look any further than the colors of a black hole throughout time.

Next up: We have never been able to observe the collision of two black holes, but in 2018, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center simulated two supermassive black holes spiraling toward a collision.

https://bit.ly/3SW53WM



BHI visiting scholar Delilah Gates, BHI graduate student alum Dominic Chang and BHI fellow Daniel Palumbo have recently ...
08/27/2026

BHI visiting scholar Delilah Gates, BHI graduate student alum Dominic Chang and BHI fellow Daniel Palumbo have recently published a new paper.

https://bit.ly/4wW1dei

Photon Ring Astrometry. I. A Simple Spin Measurement Technique for High-resolution Images of M87*

Publication: The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 1007, Issue 1
Publication Date: August 2026
Authors: Delilah E.A. Gates, Dominic O. Chang, Aaron Held and Daniel C.M. Palumbo

The supermassive black hole M87* is a target for future horizon-scale imaging that will resolve the first lensed (n = 1) subimage of the photon ring. In this work, we identify a concrete observable—the displacement between the centers of the n = 1 photon ring subimage and the direct image. Assuming that the observed large-scale jet of M87 is aligned with the black hole spin axis, we separate the relative position of the photon ring into components parallel and transverse to the projected spin axis. We show that the parallel shift is primarily determined by inclination and emission radius, while the transverse shift is tightly correlated with inclination and spin. We demonstrate these effects both in a simple geometric model (to explain the underlying physics) and in general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations with magnetically arrested disks (to provide realistic instantiations). We find that a relative astrometric resolution of ≲ 0.1 μas, achievable by the proposed Black Hole Explorer mission, is sufficient to constrain the spin to better than 9% if the accretion flow is prograde, 25% if the flow is retrograde, or 24% if the direction of the flow is undetermined. More generally, this identifies photon ring astrometry as a promising method to constrain the underlying spacetime geometry without relying on geometric modeling of the observed emission.

Transitions at the BHI do not always mean goodbyes. Today, we celebrate Daniel Palumbo as he completes his fellowship af...
08/24/2026

Transitions at the BHI do not always mean goodbyes. Today, we celebrate Daniel Palumbo as he completes his fellowship after seven years as part of the BHI community, first as a graduate student and then as a fellow. Though his fellowship is ending, we are happy to say this is not a true farewell. Daniel will soon begin a Clay Fellowship at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and plans to pop into the BHI every now and then.

During his time at the BHI, Daniel developed the photon ring science of the next-generation Event Horizon Telescope and Black Hole Explorer, while also coordinating the internship programs of both projects. Many of the summer interns we have introduced over the past few weeks have Daniel to thank for helping make those programs possible. He also led outreach efforts for the ngEHT, BHEX, and the BHI at conferences such as AAS and local events like Cambridge Explores the Universe.

Daniel has been part of the fabric of the BHI in many other ways as well. He is a familiar voice at our annual conference, calling everyone back into the room after breaks, and around the office, you could often find him with a cup of Constant Comfort tea in hand.

After seven years, it is hard to imagine the BHI without Daniel, but fortunately, we will still be seeing him around. We wish him all the best as he begins his Clay Fellowship at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Looking for some color inspo? You don’t have to look any further than the colors of a black hole throughout time.Next up...
08/20/2026

Looking for some color inspo? You don’t have to look any further than the colors of a black hole throughout time.

Next up: Interstellar. Released in 2014, the film's black hole, Gargantua, was created using scientific simulations developed with theoretical physicist Kip Thorne.

#535578 #040610

BHI alum Fabio Pacucci is featured in a new NASA Chandra release exploring the mysterious “little red dots” discovered b...
08/19/2026

BHI alum Fabio Pacucci is featured in a new NASA Chandra release exploring the mysterious “little red dots” discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Researchers studied a nearby example called the “Saguaro” galaxy, finding evidence that these objects may represent a phase in the evolution of actively growing supermassive black holes.

https://bit.ly/4ijtkjH

Every year at the BHI, we celebrate the people who have helped shape our community before they begin exciting new chapte...
08/14/2026

Every year at the BHI, we celebrate the people who have helped shape our community before they begin exciting new chapters in their careers. Today, we recognize Sasha Plavin as he prepares to take the next step after three years at the BHI.

Starting this September, Sasha will join the National Radio Astronomy Observatory as a Jansky Fellow, where he will study outflows and jets from quasars at the home of the Very Long Baseline Array. During his time at the BHI, Sasha worked on multimessenger studies of AGN jets and became a member of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration to work on the highest-resolution radio observations ever made.

Sasha's path to the BHI wasn't a straightforward one, and we're especially grateful that everything ultimately came together. He says he'll especially miss the BHI's unique blend of black hole physics and astronomy expertise, and the common-room conversations that often led to unexpected scientific detours.

Before heading to NRAO, Sasha plans to spend the summer exploring the parts of Boston he somehow never managed to see during his three years here. We'll miss his friendly presence, his unwavering choice of mashed potato pizza on Pizza Fridays, and the unforgettable snowman he built with a pair of our black hole marbles for eyes (link in bio!).

We wish Sasha all the best and look forward to seeing where his research takes him next.

The second episode of the CfA's Cosmos for All podcast is now available!https://bit.ly/464e032Episode 2 focuses on the B...
08/13/2026

The second episode of the CfA's Cosmos for All podcast is now available!

https://bit.ly/464e032

Episode 2 focuses on the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX), a proposed NASA mission that would place a radio telescope in Earth orbit and link it with ground-based telescopes to create an array larger than Earth itself.

Featuring BHI PI Michael Johnson and BHI fellow Daniel Palumbo, alongside senior systems integration engineer Janice Houston.

Our color analysis said we’re an Autumn. Looking for some color inspo? You don’t have to look any further than the color...
08/12/2026

Our color analysis said we’re an Autumn. Looking for some color inspo? You don’t have to look any further than the colors of a black hole throughout time.

First up: the first computer-simulated rendering of a black hole was created in 1978–1979 by French astrophysicist Jean-Pierre Luminet using an IBM punch-card computer and plotted by hand with ink.

#858585 #272727

Every summer, the BHI welcomes a new group of talented students who bring fresh ideas, curiosity, and enthusiasm to our ...
08/07/2026

Every summer, the BHI welcomes a new group of talented students who bring fresh ideas, curiosity, and enthusiasm to our community. Over the past few weeks, we've been introducing our NSBP/SAO-EHT Scholars and BHEX Interns as they spend the summer exploring black holes while experiencing Cambridge!

Last but not least, meet Mehiret Aga, an NSBP/SAO-EHT Scholar spending the summer at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. The NSBP/SAO-EHT Scholars Program, sponsored by the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) and the Event Horizon Telescope group at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), gives students the opportunity to work alongside researchers tackling some of the biggest questions in astrophysics.

Get to know Mehiret through this week's Q&A!

Address

Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
02138

Website

, ,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Black Hole Initiative - Harvard University posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Black Hole Initiative - Harvard University:

Shortcuts

Share