VLBI Group
[1] Comparision of the 2018 M87* and 2017 M87* images. [2] First image of Sagittarius A.
[3] First polarized image of M87.
Our research group is focused on the study of black hole accretion and relativistic jet formation through very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations with mm-wave arrays, such as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), and orbiting antennas, such as the space VLBI mission RadioAstron. In particular our research group is playing a key role in the scientific exploitation of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT).
Our group is part of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), in Granada, Spain, currently an EHT affiliated institution, one of the most important investigation centers of the country also distinguished with the “Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence Award”. The group is led by Dr. José L. Gómez who is also the Vice Chair of the EHT Science Council and one of the three coordinators of the EHT Imaging Working Group (WG).
Our research group has become one of the most relevant in the EHT, and played a key role in the analysis and imaging of the EHT observations of SgrA*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The results are published in a special issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
On 18th Jan 2024, the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, including members of our group, released new images of M87*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87, using data from observations taken in April 2018. The paper published in Astronomy & Astrophysics presents new images from the 2018 data that reveal a familiar ring the same size as the one observed in 2017. This bright ring surrounds a deep central depression, “the shadow of the black hole,” as predicted by general relativity. Excitingly, the brightness peak of the ring has shifted by about 30° compared to the images from 2017, which is consistent with our theoretical understanding of variability from turbulent material around black holes.
Our Group in the News
Press releases for 2018 M87* EHT results:
20+ institutional press releases, 50+ newpapers and magazines in 10+ different languagues, and 100+ social media posts to cover the outreach of this result from the EHT. Members of our group were featured in all the media coverage for this publication.
- Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration: English
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) (Spain): Spanish – English
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas: Spanish
- Universitat de València (Spain): Catalan
- Atacama Large Millimeter Array - ALMA Observatory (Chile): Spanish – English
- Universidad de Concepción (Chile): Spanish
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (México): Spanish – English
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory (USA): English
- Center for Astrophysics – Harvard & Smithsonian (USA): English
- McGill University (Canada): English
- Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (Taiwan): Chinese – English
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (China): Chinese
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (Japan): Japanese – English
- University of Tokyo (Japan): Japanese – English
- Niigata University (Japan): Japanese – English
- Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (Germany): German – English
- Universität of Würzburg (Germany): German – English
- Aalto University (Finland): Finnish – English
- Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) (Italy): Italian
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - INFN (Italy): Italian
- Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden): Swedish – English
- University of Southern Denmark (Denmark): Danish – English
- Science News, 18th Jan 2024: English
- Science Magazine, 18th Jan 2024: English
- New Scientist, 18th Jan 2024: English
- Granada Hoy, 18th Jan 2024: Spanish
- El Independiente, 18th Jan 2024: Spanish
- El Periodic, 18th Jan 2024: Spanish
Filamentary structures unveiled by the RadioAstron image of 3C279
- Press Release at IAA-CSIC: Spanish
- Press Release at JIVE: English
- Press Release at MPIfR: German
- Press Release at INAF: Italian
First Image of Sagittarius A*
- Ideal: El granadino que nos llevó al centro de la galaxia
- Press Conference at CSIC Headquarters: Youtube Live
- Newsletter by CSIC: Captada la primera imagen histórica del agujero negro del centro de la galaxia
- RTVE: Dr. José Luis Gómez live on RTVE with Lorenzo Milá
- Radio 3: Dr. Rocco Lico and Anotonio Fuentes on Radio 3: Fallo de sistema with Santiago Bustamante
- CSIC Instagram: Dr. Thalia Traianou comments on the first image of SgrA* and her contributions in the imaging.
- CSIC Facebook: Antonio Fuentes comments on the first image of SgrA* and his contributions in the imaging.
- CSIC LinkedIn: Dr. Rocco Lico comments on the first image of SgrA* and his contributions to the calibration of data
- CSIC Facebook: Dr. Ilje Cho comments on the first image of SgrA* and his contributions to the imaging and its analysis.
- CSIC LinkedIn: Dr. Guang-Yao Zhao comments on the first image of SgrA* and his contributions to the scattering and imaging.
- CanalSur: Andalucía, clave en la captación de la primera imagen del agujero negro de la Vía Láctea
- Nature: Black hole at the centre of our Galaxy imaged for the first time
- El País: Tomada la primera imagen de Sagitario A*, el agujero negro en el centro de nuestra galaxia
- El País in English: Sagittarius A*: The inside story of how the Milky Way’s black hole was snapped
- EL MUNDO: Captan la primera imagen del agujero negro de nuestra galaxia, Sagitario A*, probando su existencia
- 20minutos: Rocco Lico, astrofísico: “El agujero negro no es tan grande como para absorber la Vía Láctea.”
- ABC: Primera imagen de Sagitario A*, el agujero negro del centro de nuestra galaxia, en directo.
- ABC: Ya estamos observando otras galaxias, como una candidata a contener dos agujeros negros en su centro.
- IDEAL: Granada, clave en la primera fotografía del centro de nuestra galaxia
- SER: ¿Qué nos dice la foto de Sagitario A*, el agujero negro del centro de nuestra galaxia? Hablamos con uno de los científicos españoles que ha participado en su obtención
- AS USA: Why is the Milky Way black hole called Sagittarius A*?
- Cope: La ciencia celebra una imagen histórica que cambia la concepción del Universo
- El Confidential: Imagen histórica del agujero negro de la Vía Láctea: primera foto real de Sagitario A*
- Natiódigita: Així és Sagitari A*, el forat negre del centre de la Via Làctia
News
28 March 2025
Decade-long high-resolution monitoring of 3C 84 reveals a bending, evolving jet with shifting launch direction and changing expansion speeds. 
22 January 2025
Using 2017-2018 data, the EHT revealed turbulence in M87*’s accretion flow, reshaping the ring’s brightest region. This shows the power of multi-epoch observations to uncover black hole accretion and spacetime properties—a leap in black hole studies!. Read the press release here. 
18 January 2024
The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, including members of our group, released new images of M87*, using data from observations taken in April 2018. Read the press release here. 
26 October 2023
Our latest paper published in Nature Astronomy, led by Dr. Antonio Fuentes, unveils entangled helical filaments within the powerful blazar 3C 279’s jet with the space antenna RadioAstron! Access the paper here. 
17 December 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Rocco Lico for getting the EHT Early Career Award 2022 for his significant contributions and leadership to the calibration and imaging of SgrA* data! Read more about this here. 
15 December 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Antonio Fuentes for getting the EHT Early Career Award 2022 for his outstanding contributions to both the EHT static and dynamic imaging of SgrA*! Read more about this here. 
25 November 2022
A huge congratulations to Antonio on becoming Dr. Antonio Fuentes! 
12 May 2022
We finally have the first look at our Milky Way black hole, Sagittarius A*. Our group played a leading role in the imaging process! Read more about this here. 
28 April 2022
Press conference at CSIC Headquaters in Madrid on groundbreaking Milky Way results from the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration. More about in the tweet by CSIC here.