![South Pole Telescope in Antarctica](https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/styles/mobile_full_width/s3/2022-04/SouthPoleTelescopebyUniversityofArizonaJunhanKim_20171231_171923_sm.jpg?VersionId=aOyZeGB1zw78EOZpnaVa8Pt1PnGiY.kB&h=69b53f71&itok=QTRvQ5TF)
Credit: Junhan Kim, The University of Arizona
![The Submillimeter Telescope (SMT)](https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/styles/mobile_full_width/s3/2022-04/SMTbyDaveHarvey_IMG_4092ps3.jpg?VersionId=otW8onPBB1gsrJaikPsCZl6qdBBI4qDv&itok=8jpOHQ0J)
Credit: David Harvey
Radio waves from distant celestial objects arrive at different points on Earth at different times. For VLBI to work, these waves must be matched wave-for-wave at each and every station. To accomplish this, the EHT uses ultra-precise atomic clocks, which time stamp the data. Later, when the data are combined, astronomers can ensure that each observatory's data align with the data from all the rest.
Black holes are so difficult to detect that no single instrument can even make the attempt. Instead, any effort to image a black hole will require a team of telescopes, all working together, using a technique called interferometry. This graphic from NSF's National Radio Astronomy Observatory explains interferometry and how collaborations like the Event Horizon Telescope use it hunt for black holes.
![Event Horizon telescope Imaging of black hole](https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/styles/mobile_full_width/s3/2022-04/data_infographic.jpg?VersionId=g4Tlj.J_zL6hZ.epIhW5gPViCf_NZVb5&h=2df7ae77&itok=J5APGdQ9)
Credit: Zina Deretsky (illustration); and special thanks to the University of Arizona and MIT/Haystack Observatory
For the Event Horizon Telescope, resolving the image of M87* from petabytes of information was a Big Data challenge. This infographic helps explain how they accomplished that monumental task.
Video assets
Virtual backgrounds
![black hole virtual background](https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/styles/mobile_full_width/s3/2022-03/ZOOM3_600.jpg?VersionId=OpdBgaL9Keuo5fQYoe3wBMC1GDdM.GKm&itok=vOkM9CYm)
Credit: Event Horizon Telescope collaboration et al.
Event Horizon black hole coloring page
![virtual background for eht with telescopes and starry background](https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/styles/mobile_full_width/s3/2022-05/EHT_Zoom_Background_v2.jpg?VersionId=B_msWb1TjCXV7n_Q5OJj4dDyH0aOO00v&itok=S5ndzcGd)
Credit: C. Padilla, NRAO/AUI/National Science Foundation
![virtual background eht Sgr A* Black Hole](https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/styles/mobile_full_width/s3/2022-05/SgrA_Zoom_Background_Final.jpg?VersionId=8unp3Zj554yi9Wl33VFJVPnj7JyAKgO.&itok=iK--WrBr)
Credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration
![Gemini North Telescope](https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/styles/mobile_full_width/s3/2020-07/Zoom_Gemini_v01.jpg?VersionId=6oGlj8cDNWSIgLD6miS5g251MtRSReC2&itok=VTRMpSKh)
Credit: Image by Joy Pollard/International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
![Colliding black holes](https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/styles/mobile_full_width/s3/2020-09/Zoom_binary_black_hole_v01_0.jpg?VersionId=3u0_sUtZB5K8qb.L5ARtorpITgaV6Sfu&itok=4C3v5dVO)
Credit: Mark Myers, ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav)/Swinburne University
![VLA Telescopes](https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/styles/mobile_full_width/s3/2020-06/Zoom_VLA_v02.jpg?VersionId=8lG98jBvmWBtzDyTDtdMwupA4pFBBzHz&itok=dAwRF44q)
Credit: Andrew Clegg, National Science Foundation
![Astronomers discover two pairs of quasars in distant universe](https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/styles/featured_content_tablet/s3/2022-04/noirlab2113a_h.jpg?VersionId=ZKi.mblXSSl77KZY8F.o5wZ.cvH3mLq0&itok=LKVIOFjb)
Black hole images and videos
Be immersed with beautiful imagery and informative videos on black holes, in our multimedia gallery.
Explore now