On the heels of today’s groundbreaking scientific announcement, the network will air a new one-hour documentary following a team of international scientists as they attempt to document the first-ever image of a black hole. BLACK HOLE HUNTERS premieres Friday, April 12 at 9 PM ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel.
Dr. Sheperd Doeleman of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory has led the Event Horizon Telescope project team, a collective of the top scientific minds from around the world, since 2006. The project combines radio observatories and telescope facilities from around the world to make up a virtual telescope with a diameter spanning the entire planet. This mega-telescope’s ultimate mission: to capture the first image ever of a black hole. Although the concept of black holes has been long assumed to be fact, the Event Horizon Telescope’s success provides the first clear visual evidence of their existence. BLACK HOLE HUNTERS will bring viewers into the laboratories, behind the computer screens and beside the telescopes of what may prove to be one of the great astrophysical achievements in the history of mankind.
BLACK HOLE HUNTERS is produced by Windfall Films Ltd. (part of the Argonon Group) for Smithsonian Networks in association with the BBC, NHK, Canal+ and N24. Carlo Massarella and Dan Kendall are executive producers, and Henry Fraser is producer and director for Windfall Films Ltd. Tim Evans and David Royle serve as executive producers for Smithsonian Channel. Key funding for the Event Horizon Telescope was provided by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), EU's European Research Council (ERC) and funding agencies in East Asia.
