April 1, 2019

Media Advisory: Press Conference on First Result from the Event Horizon Telescope

• What: Press conference on groundbreaking result from the Event Horizon Telescope.
• When: Wednesday, April 10, 6 a.m. Arizona time
• Where: The National Press Club, 529 14th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. The event will also be streamed live online.
• Who: NSF Director France Córdova will deliver remarks. A panel of EHT researchers, including UA alumna Sera Markoff and faculty member Daniel Marrone, will also deliver remarks and answer questions:
  • Sheperd Doeleman, EHT Director, Harvard University Senior Research Fellow, Center for Astrophysics at Harvard & Smithsonian
  • Daniel Marrone, University of Arizona, Department of Astronomy, Steward Observatory
  • Avery Broderick, University of Waterloo, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
  • Sera Markoff, University of Amsterdam, Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, Gravitation and AstroParticle Physics Amsterdam

TUCSON, Ariz. — Scientists at the University of Arizona have been working with researchers around the world to take the first-ever picture of a black hole. The outcome of this monumental effort will put Einstein's Theory of General Relativity to the test and involves an observatory of unprecedented size. Eight radio telescopes around the globe, including two that involve the UA, were synchronized into one Earth-sized virtual telescope: the Event Horizon Telescope, or EHT.

RSVP: Credentialed press can register to attend the event in person by contacting eht@nsf.gov. To attend, media must register by 6 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 8. Details about submitting questions or scheduling interviews will be sent to journalists following registration.

Immediately following the press conference, panelists and other experts from the EHT collaboration will be available for interviews, and a UA press release will be issued.

The NSF will issue a press release the morning of the press conference. Translations of the press release will be available in multiple languages, along with extensive supporting audiovisual material.

In addition to the press briefing in the U.S, press conferences will be held simultaneously in Brussels, Santiago, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo. Speakers in some of the locations to include:

• The European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, will speak in Brussels.
• President of the Academia Sinica, James Liao, will speak in Taipei.
• Director of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, Sean Dougherty, and European Southern Observatory Director General Xavier Barcons will speak in Santiago. 

If you wish to embed the press conference in your online feed, you may do so from either the NSF Black Holes Special Report or the NSF direct livestream link. The NSF Special Report includes additional information about exploring and studying black holes.

For further information about the EHT, visit the Event Horizon Telescope webpage.

For more information about the UA's participating researchers and involvement in the EHT, visitexperts.arizona.edu/blackhole.

Rosie Johnson
UA Steward Observatory
Office: 520-621-6458 | Cell: 520-982-1022
rosiejohnson@email.arizona.edu