Image List

This image is from a computer animation illustrating a spinning black hole. The close-up view here represents the immediate vicinity of the black hole, with the event horizon depicted as a black sphere. The surrounding disk of gas, represented by white and blue rings, whirls around the black hole. The white column over the pole of the black hole represents a jet of gas being ejected from the vicinity of the black hole at nearly the speed of light.

This computer simulation shows what a "hot spot" of gas orbiting a black hole would look like in an extremely high-resolution image. The black hole's strong gravity distorts the appearance of nearby glowing gas, casting a silhouette. The green lines are a coordinate grid, also distorted by the black hole's gravity. Here, the black hole is viewed from an angle of 30 degrees above the disk plane.