Black holes are so unusual that it's hard to imagine. These objects represent a region in space-time that arose during the strong compression of matter, in which the gravitational attraction is so great that neither matter, nor light, nor other information carriers can leave it. The black hole is surrounded by a surface from under which nothing can escape, it is called the "event horizon". Although we know that black holes exist, until now, scientists have not been able to obtain a detailed image of their immediate surroundings.
In particular, the problem of obtaining a detailed image is associated with the fact that even the closest black holes to the Sun are still at giant distances from us. In this regard, to obtain a direct image of the immediate vicinity of a black hole with a high angular resolution, it is necessary to have telescopes of colossal dimensions. The nearest supermassive black hole is located in the center of our Milky Way galaxy (radio source "Sagittarius A"), but even for the most modern telescopes it is far enough away.
The new global technology may soon make it possible to obtain the first images of a real black hole. The idea is to use a network of telescopes (very long baseline radio interferometer - VLBI) located at different points of the planet and together that make up the virtual Event Horizon telescope ("Event horizon telescope"), which can look into the galaxy much deeper than ever before.
Work on the project has been going on for over ten years, and the other day its leaders announced that they are going to make an important announcement. The telescope has probably already reached such power that soon we will see the first photo of a black hole.