Astronomy is one of the oldest
sciences and one of the most popular, maybe because so much of it is based on
what we see from our backyard. The stars faithfully stay in their courses. The
planets move slowly against the background of the stars, but in time they
return to where they began. The moon waxes and wanes so that some nights
farmers can work late into the evening by its light, and on others true
darkness reigns and the stars seem to shine so brightly it feels like they’re
bearing down on us.
In the modern era, we not only see farther
than ever, thanks to telescopes and satellites, but we also see more clearly
the wonders of the heavens. Perhaps we have a greater insight as a result, not
only into God’s creative power but into God’s love for us as well. Like the psalmist
says: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the
stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of
them, mortals that you care for them?”1
Still, sometimes the most
awe-inspiring “sights” in the sky are the things we can’t see with the eye.
Since black holes were first theorized, and later their existence proved, these
voracious celestial monsters have intrigued and fascinated not only
professional astronomers but the general public as well. Think of it: A massive
star collapses in on itself, then draws other stars and planets into its well
of inescapable gravity! Nothing within the boundary of what they call the “event
horizon” (a theoretical boundary around a black hole) can escape — not even
light. You cannot see the “singularity” (a point at which matter is infinitely
dense, as at the center of a black hole). So even though we may know there is a
massive black hole at the center of our galaxy, it’s invisible.
Or rather, we couldn’t see it
— until recently. Only in 2019 was an international team of scientists finally
able to photograph what cannot be seen with the eye. The first picture of a
black hole was the result of scientists working together at various instruments
all over the world to create what was called a planet-wide telescope.
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