A black hole is defined by NASA as a volume of matter packed into a relatively small area. This matter has a gravitational force that is so strong, even light can’t escape and where time and space are warped
Almost a century ago, Albert Einstein studied images of stars, helping him form his general theory of relativity which predicted the existence of black holes.
Einstein argued that when stars die, they leave behind a core. If that core is three times the mass of the sun, the force of gravity is sufficient to overwhelm all other nearby forces and a black hole is formed.
The first-ever photograph of a black hole will be released at 13:00 GMT on Wednesday in Shanghai, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The black hole data of the photograph were captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), an international cooperation program jointly established by more than 200 researchers around the world.
The program had its first full run in April 2017, collecting data of black holes with eight telescopes around the globe, including one in the South Pole.