Short-form

Around the horizon of a black hole, an edge of the universe, light is captured, spun into orbit by the black hole’s powerful gravitational pull. Lying within the orange donut in the famous first image of a black hole, this “photon ring” would be a prize to measure—it would reveal the nature of spacetime itself, directly, near the horizon. Indeed, the shape of this pure ring of light tells everything about the black hole. With the stakes this high, a new collaboration—physicists, astronomers, engineers from around the world—has formed to loft a spacecraft that capture the photon ring. We are at the beginning of what is probably a ten-year effort—this is a film about the start of that adventure.

A film by Peter Galison, Michael Johnson, and Chyld King

My world was jolted by two shadow images: one, thrilling, the other terrifying.  After a years-long effort—with 200 other scientists—we made the first image of a black hole, its shadow of no return.  Then I fell into debilitating pain. A deadly shadow blot appeared on an MRI of my spine.  Faced with emergency surgery and no assurance of success, I sought comfort in memory images from the past and, from collaborative work that engrossed me: images of the whole visible universe could be stored in light circling a black hole.  It was a universal memory. An experimental back and forth between the innermost-personal and the astronomical, where shadows and consolation cross.

1930, Madras, India. On a steamship to England, 19-year-old Indian physics prodigy, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar makes a paradigm-shattering discovery about the life cycle of stars: a discipline pioneered by Sir Arthur Eddington, the world’s most famous astronomer and Chandra’s new advisor. After years of work under his mentor's watchful eye, Chandra presents at a public forum, only for Eddington to denounce his protégé and his work. A half-century later, after a more conservative career, Chandra is awarded the Nobel Prize for the work begun on board that ship to England. Grounded in his recorded memories, “Shattering Stars” alternates between realistic and imaginary animation.

Allston is the hope and promise of Harvard’s long-term future. Getting it right will shape the character of the University for generations. But we could easily get it wrong.

Galison reviews Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics by John Archibald Wheeler with Kenneth Ford.