IAA researchers, in the "Oscars of Science"

On April 10, the first image of a black hole was shown, a scientific milestone that was made possible by an extensive international collaboration around the Event Horizon Telescope, a planetary scale telescope. Now, the 347 researchers who participated in the work, including two from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), have been awarded the best gifted prize in science, the Breakthrough, in the category of Fundamental Physics.

The prize, endowed with three million dollars, will be distributed among the 347 members of the collaboration that participated as co-authors in the scientific articles that showed the supermassive black hole of the center of the Messier 87 galaxy, located 55 million light years from Earth. Multiple independent observations with the Event Horizon Telescope, each analyzed with different methods of image reconstruction, revealed a ring-shaped structure with a central dark region: the shadow of the black hole.

The award represents a huge recognition of the international nature of the EHT's collaboration, which encompasses more than sixty institutions in twenty countries. "We are very excited by this enormous scientific recognition that culminates years of effort, and full of pride in sharing this award with our colleagues and friends, spread all over the world, who have made this incredible result possible," point out José Luis Gómez y Antxon Alberdi, researchers of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia awarded.

The Breakthrough Awards, which celebrate its eighth edition and are known as the "Oscars of Science", annually recognize cutting-edge achievements in life sciences, physics and mathematics. This year's winners, in addition to showing what a black hole looks like, addressed issues such as quantum gravity, laid the groundwork for non-opioid analgesics to extinguish chronic pain, established the biological basis of how much we eat and weigh or discovered mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders, including early dementia.

SPANISH PARTICIPATION IN THE FIRST IMAGE OF A BLACK HOLE

Several Spanish astronomers participated in this scientific milestone. José Luis Gómez, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA), developed one of the three algorithms used to reconstruct the shadow images of the black hole in M87. In addition, Gomez was one of the coordinators of the scientific article where these images were presented and analyzed.

Antxon Alberdi, director of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA), leads the research on the formation of relativistic jets from the accretion around supermassive black holes. Iván Martí-Vidal, from the National Geographic Institute (IGN), designed the algorithms that allowed the combination of the ALMA data (the most sensitive element of the EHT) with the rest of the radio telescopes; he is also coordinator of the polarimetry group (whose main objective is to study the role of magnetic fields in the vicinity of the black hole).

Miguel Sánchez-Portal (director of IRAM-Granada), Salvador Sánchez and Ignacio Ruíz (engineers), and Pablo Torné (researcher) also of the Institute of Radio Astronomy Millimeter (IRAM), and Rebecca Azulay (University of Valencia) participated in the configuration of the technical equipment and observations from the IRAM telescope 30 meters in Sierra Nevada, in Granada.

In total there have been fourteen Spanish scientists distributed by different Spanish or international institutions who have been awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, in alphabetical order: Antxon Alberdi, Juan Carlos Algaba, Rebecca Azulay, Raquel Fraga-Encinas, Roberto García, José Luis Gómez, Rubén Herrero-Illana, Iván Martí-Vidal, Santiago Navarro, Juan Peñalver, Eduardo Ros, Ignacio Ruiz, Salvador Sánchez and Pablo Torné.

Miguel Sánchez-Portal (director de IRAM-Granada), Salvador Sánchez e Ignacio Ruíz (ingenieros), y Pablo Torné (investigador) también del Instituto de Radioastronomía Milimétrica (IRAM), y Rebecca Azulay (Universidad de Valencia) participaron en la configuración del equipamiento técnico y las observaciones desde el telescopio IRAM 30 metros en Sierra Nevada, en Granada.

En total han sido catorce los científicos españoles repartidos por distintas instituciones españolas o internacionales los que han sido galardonados con el premio Breakthrough en Física Fundamental, en orden alfabético: Antxon Alberdi, Juan Carlos Algaba, Rebecca Azulay, Raquel Fraga-Encinas, Roberto García, José Luis Gómez, Rubén Herrero-Illana, Iván Martí-Vidal, Santiago Navarro, Juan Peñalver, Eduardo Ros, Ignacio Ruiz, Salvador Sánchez y Pablo Torné.