“Honestly, it was a dream come true,” Sandra Bustamante, a telescope instrumentalist who worked on the project, said in an interview this week. Feryal Ozel, an astronomy and astrophysics professor at the University of Arizona who was on the science council for the project, first published a paper on black hole imaging in 2000. “I think giving credit to any single individual — whether this is a woman or man, young or old — harms the collaboration,” she said. “It was an opportunity to see an accomplished woman play a significant role, and being acknowledged in that role,” she said. “We love this photo too, because she looks so happy,” said Ms. Issaoun, who said she got shivers when she saw the image of a black hole.

Source: New York Times April 11, 2019 22:21 UTC