Towards the ends of space and time: An interview with Heino Falcke#
#BuildingBridges2024SpotlightSeries#
Professor Heino Falcke MAE shares his experience of capturing the first image of a black hole.
About Heino Falcke#
Professor Heino Falcke MAE is an astroparticle physicist and radio astronomer at the Institute for Mathematics, Astronomy and Particle Physics (IMAPP) at Radboud University
in Nijmegen (NL).
He has received numerous accolades for his pioneering work, including the Spinoza Prize, the US National Academy of Science Henry Draper Medal, and a knighthood from the Dutch King. He is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). His achievements include leading the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project that captured the first image of a black hole, a milestone in modern astronomy. Prof. Falcke is a member of the Earth and Cosmic Sciences section of Academia Europaea since 2013.
At the 35th Annual Conference of Academia Europaea and Conference of the Young Academy of Europe, Professor Falcke presented Towards the ends of space and time – the first image of a black hole, sharing insights from his work on imaging black holes and discussing the implications for our understanding of the universe.
Read the interview#
Your work on black holes has earned you several prestigious awards and accolades. What initially inspired you to study black holes?
What really fascinated me as a physics student was the realisation that the two fundamental theories governing our universe—quantum physics, which explains matter and light, and general relativity, which describes space, time, and gravity—collide at the edge of black holes. Something new is waiting to be discovered there.”
The first image of a black hole was a monumental achievement. What were your immediate thoughts when you saw the image for the first time?
What followed was, for many of us, perhaps the most intense but most memorable period of our scientific lives. In the end, the result closely resembled what we had predicted 20 years earlier. It is so beautiful to witness how physics can anticipate real world observations – in this case, the shadow of a black hole.”
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project is a global effort involving 200 researchers from various institutions around the world. What were some of the key challenges you faced in coordinating such a large and diverse team, and how did you overcome them?
As astronomers, we weren’t accustomed to the kind of large-scale collaborations that particle physicists have been practising for decades; traditionally, astronomers work in smaller, often competing teams.
One of the key strategies I advocated for was the integration of expertise from different fields—technical, observational, analytical, and theoretical—into one unified collaboration. Drawing on my previous experience of co-leading a project that combined both astronomers and particle physicists, I knew the value of having different groups rigorously cross-check each other’s work. This was especially critical, given the high-profile nature of our project. Any misstep could have significantly damaged not only the project’s reputation but the credibility of the entire scientific community.
To ensure the quality and integrity of our results, we brought into our team not just the best minds, but also the most outspoken critics. This created a rigorous, self-critical environment, which was crucial for achieving reliable, high-stakes scientific outcomes.”
What are the next steps for the EHT project, and what new discoveries are you hoping to make?
.For further information please contact AECardiffHub@cardiff.ac.uk
.
