Media Advisory 19-004

NSF press conference on first result from Event Horizon Telescope project

Global network of telescopes has been working to capture first-ever image of a black hole

Simulated image of black hole

A simulated image shows the turbulent plasma in the extreme environment around a black hole.


April 1, 2019

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project and the National Science Foundation (NSF) will hold a press conference to announce a groundbreaking result.

What: Press conference on groundbreaking result from the Event Horizon Telescope.

Who: NSF Director France Córdova will deliver remarks. A panel of EHT researchers will also deliver remarks and answer questions:

  • Sheperd Doeleman, EHT Director, Harvard University Senior Research Fellow, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
  • Daniel Marrone, University of Arizona, Department of Astronomy, Steward Observatory
  • Avery Broderick, University of Waterloo, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
  • Sera Markoff, University of Amsterdam, Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, Gravitation and AstroParticle Physics Amsterdam

When: Wednesday, April 10, 2019, 9 a.m. EDT

Where: The National Press Club, 529 14th St N.W., Washington, D.C., 20045. The event will also be streamed live online.

RSVP: Credentialed press can register to attend the event in person by contacting eht@nsf.gov. To attend, media must register by 6:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 8. Details about submitting questions or scheduling interviews will be sent to journalists following registration.

Immediately following the press conference, panelists and other experts from the EHT collaboration will be available for interviews.

NSF will issue a press release the morning of the press conference. Translations of the press release will be available in multiple languages, along with extensive supporting audiovisual material.

In addition to the press briefing in the U.S, press conferences will be held simultaneously in Brussels, Santiago, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo. Speakers in some of the locations to include:

  • The European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, will speak in Brussels.
  • President of the Academia Sinica, James Liao, will speak in Taipei.
  • Director of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, Sean Dougherty, and European Southern Observatory Director General Xavier Barcons will speak in Santiago.

If you wish to embed the press conference in your online feed, you may do so from either the NSF Black Holes Special Report or the NSF direct livestream link. The NSF Special Report includes additional information about exploring and studying black holes.

For further information about EHT, please check the Event Horizon Telescope webpage.

-NSF-

Media Contacts
Joshua Chamot, NSF, 703-292-4489, email: jchamot@nsf.gov

The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.

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