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PICTURE SHOWS: Making of the image of the black hole at the centre of the Milky The first image of the massive black hole at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy has been revealed. The image, unveiled on Thursday, is from the international consortium behind the Event Horizon Telescope - eight synchronised radio telescopes around the world. The black hole itself, known as Sagittarius A*, cannot be seen because no light or matter can escape its gravitational grip. But its shadow is traced out by a glowing, fuzzy ring of light and matter that is swirling on the precipice at close to the speed of light. The University of Arizona's Feryal Ozel described the black hole as "the gentle giant in the centre of our galaxy". Prof Sera Markoff, an astrophysicist at the University of Amsterdam and co-chair of the EHT Science Council, said: ??sThe Milky Way???s black hole was our main target, it???s our closest supermassive black hole and it???s the reason we set out to do this thing in the first place. It???s been a 100-year search for these things and so, scientifically, it???s a huge deal.??? The image provides compelling proof that there is a black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, which had been the working assumption of mainstream astronomy. A minority of scientists had continued to speculate about the possibility of other exotic objects, such as boson stars or clumps of dark matter. ??sI???m personally happy about the fact it really drills home the fact that there is definitely a black hole at the centre of our galaxy,??? said Dr Ziri Younsi, a member of the EHT collaboration based at University College London. When: 13 May 2022 Credit: EHT Collaboration/Cover Images **EDITORIAL USE ONLY. MATERIALS ONLY TO BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH EDITORIAL STORY. THE USE OF THESE MATERIALS FOR ADVERTISING, MARKETING OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL PURPOSE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. MATERIAL COPYRIGHT REMAINS WITH STATED PHOTOGRAPHER AND/OR SUPPLIER.**