VLBI Group

[1] First polarized image of the black hole at the centre of the M87 galaxy. [2] First image of Sagittarius A* the black hole at the centre of our galaxy Milky way.

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 SgrA* image is a long-anticipated look at the massive object that sits at the very centre of our galaxy. Scientists had previously seen stars orbiting around something invisible, compact, and very massive at the centre of the Milky Way. This strongly suggested that this object — known as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*, pronounced “sadge-ay-star”) — is a black hole, and today’s image provides the first direct visual evidence of it. The results are published in a special issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

VLBI Group at IAA in the News


First Image of Sagittarius A*

News

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.

23 March 2022

First ngEHT face-to-face meeting is happening in Granada between 22-25 June 2022! Register for the meeting here.

23 March 2022

Finally after two years, EHT face-to-face meeting is happening in Granada between 19-22 June 2022!

... see all News