Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Black holes look really weird because of the way light bends around them. This video explains how that all works and why black hole images look the way they do.

Nick Lucid - Host, Writer, Editor, Animator
Em Lucid - Producer
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VIDEO ANNOTATIONS/CARDS

Black Hole Misconceptions:
youtu.be/JAUObgaGnNI

Planetary Rings:
youtu.be/I7RM-2RUhwk
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RELATED YOUTUBE VIDEOS

Vertasium on Black Hole Optics:
youtu.be/zUyH3XhpLTo

Dr Becky on Black Hole Image:
youtu.be/BtnFwNKEmyY

Coding Train:
youtu.be/Iaz9TqYWUmA
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SOURCES

universe.nasa.gov/black-holes/anatomy
astronomy.com/science/all-black-holes-should-sport-light-rings
science.howstuffworks.com/accretion-disk.htm
fnal.gov/pub/inquiring/questions/blackholerotation.html
link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1026286607562
link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-10996-5
alessandroroussel.com/creationsList/advancedblackhole
https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1979A&A....75..228L
arxiv.org/abs/1910.12881
arxiv.org/abs/2105.07101
spacetimetravel.org/ssm
http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/coursewikis/GGR/book/ggr/onull.html
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LINKS TO COMMENTS

youtube.com/watch?v=JAUObgaGnNI&lc=UgycOypyO0HKFJ6vfiJ4AaABAg
youtube.com/watch?v=JAUObgaGnNI&lc=Ugxq0ArAYuqoMZkckk94AaABAg
youtube.com/watch?v=JAUObgaGnNI&lc=UgxqVFxS9wzFzsSHdbZ4AaABAg
youtube.com/watch?v=JAUObgaGnNI&lc=Ugz-8P6-aFdOhSpo8ed4AaABAg
youtube.com/watch?v=JAUObgaGnNI&lc=Ugxjx081qefz2SFqZ2l4AaABAg
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IMAGE/VIDEO CREDITS

NASA Black Hole Graphics:
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13326
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12854
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12005

Sagittarius A*
eventhorizontelescope.org/blog/astronomers-reveal-first-image-black-hole-heart-our-galaxy

M87*
eventhorizontelescope.org/blog/first-ever-image-black-hole-published-event-horizon-telescope-collaboration

NASA Simulation:
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13326
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TIME CODES

00:00 Cold Open
00:36 Accretion Disks
01:17 Doppler Beaming
01:47 Optics
03:02 Gravity Bends Light
04:15 Innermost Stable Circular Orbit (ISCO)
04:52 Photon Orbits
05:51 Black Hole Shadow
06:45 Closing Thoughts
07:11 Featured Comment