In the wake of the black hole - Dr. A portrait of Silke Britzen

Invisible, black and extremely attractive - black holes are one of the greatest mysteries of the universe and defy our imagination. dr Silke Britzen from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn has been researching the mysterious objects in the universe for almost twenty years. And was instrumental in the scientific sensation of recent years: the first image of a black hole. In zdi-Heldinnen-October she wants to infect girls and young women with her enthusiasm for science.

Black holes are truly objects that show you how tiny your world is. A thought that has occupied Silke Britzen since childhood: “I was fascinated by the universe from a very early age. Even as a small child, I had an aesthetic enthusiasm for the starry sky. Later questions came up like: We live here in a small spaceship in the big cosmos and there is so much more out there, how can you investigate that? How did the universe come about in the first place? And why? How can that be explained? I think these are questions that move a lot of people. And these questions were also what drove me.”

The fear of repetition: Silke Britzen's way into research

Her desire to be able to observe with the radio telescope of the Max Planck Institute in Bonn led to Britzen deciding to study astronomy and not art. In 1986 she enrolled in physics, astronomy and mathematics at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität in Bonn. “Painting would have been my plan B. If it hadn't worked out with astronomy, I would have studied art.” After successfully completing her studies, Britzen wrote both her diploma and her doctoral thesis at the same renowned Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn. With her irrepressible thirst for knowledge, Britzen is predestined to be a researcher: “I really dreaded having to do the same thing my whole life. It is my drive to keep learning, finding and examining new things.” Nevertheless, she has remained true to the fine arts and paints part-time – not only, but also stars. She wants to sharpen the view - for the beauty of nature on earth and in the cosmos. Britzen has been researching full-time at the Max Planck Institute in Bonn since 2003 and her wish to be able to observe with the radio telescope – incidentally one of the two largest fully mobile radio telescopes in the world – has become a reality. Today, Britzen observes distant galaxies with this radio telescope. Or rather: the immediate vicinity of supermassive black holes, e.g. in the center of the elliptical galaxy M87.

These objects were christened “black holes” because “no information comes out of the inside of the black holes, not even light. These objects are really dark,” Britzen explains. Since the black holes even swallow their own light, they are invisible.

But if no one has ever seen a black hole, where is the certainty that these objects exist?

Beginning of a new era: The first photo of a black hole

Until April 2019, black holes were mostly a theoretical concept. Then the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (EHT), a coalition of over 200 scientists from around the world, including Dr. Silke Britzen, accomplished the seemingly impossible. Not only did they image the shadow of a black hole, they also supported Einstein's general theory of relativity. To do this, the researchers used a trick: They linked eight of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world and thus simulated a giant telescope with immense resolution. “Imagine you are sitting in Berlin and reading a newspaper in New York. We are dealing with such a resolution here,” says Britzen. 

Last year, the decades-long chase finally paid off, and Britzen and the EHT collaboration team managed to capture the first photograph of a black hole — a groundbreaking achievement. "At first I thought I was doing something wrong. That was an incredible moment in my own work. We've actually managed to image the shadow of a black hole!” Seen in the photo: A glowing orange ring around a jet black circular area inside – embering matter surrounding a black hole at the center of the M87. The research result will be presented simultaneously in April 2019 at six international press conferences. According to EU Research Commissioner Carlos Moedas, the recording is a milestone in astronomy and a breakthrough for all of humanity (Podbregar 2019).

The darkest secret of the universe

Some would think that after such a success the thirst for knowledge should be quenched. Not so with Silke Britzen. She continues to research those objects that are beyond our imagination, with an ambitious goal: "I would like to know how black holes can be described completely and what physical forces are at work inside." Because what happens inside black holes , is completely unknown and represents one of the greatest mysteries of science. What discourages some researchers is particularly appealing to Britzen, because research on black holes eludes the laws of nature known to us: “It is an incredible drive to approach a dark object work that you can't look into. In black hole research, there is this limit that is imposed on us by physics. And so I ask myself the question every day: Is that really a limit? Or is there a gap in the theory? Can't we find out more somehow?" How essential the research of Britzen and her colleagues is becomes apparent in October 2020 at the latest, when three scientists were awarded the world's most important physical award for their research into black holes: the Nobel Price for physics. Silke Britzen is enthusiastic: “There is no question that black holes are fascinating and important research objects. But such a Nobel Prize is something else and gives the research area even more attention and confirmation. My warmest congratulations to the colleagues!” Among the award winners: Andrea Ghez, a research colleague of Britzen. Ghez is the fourth woman to ever receive the Nobel Prize in Physics. After Donna Strickland, only two years later, a woman again appears at the center of scientific activity and becomes visible. Silke Britzen agrees that this is a consistently positive development: “This year, not only Andrea Ghez was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna were also awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The fact that the number of female award winners is increasing has also been very positively received outside of science. I think the signal that women are doing research that deserves a Nobel Prize is enormously important. I hope that it encourages young women who enjoy science and gives them momentum.”

Times have never been better for women to enter science

“When I started studying physics, 5-10% of the students were female. Things are different now and the gender ratio has improved significantly in recent years, even if there is still a lot of room for improvement. The ratio is 50/50 among our doctoral students at the Max Planck Institute. Significantly more women are also present and giving lectures at international conferences. And that is very important: We researchers have to show ourselves, ask questions, give lectures, submit proposals. The many wonderful women in science must finally become visible.” Because visible role models encourage girls and young women to also pursue a path in research and not to be deterred by prejudices. dr Silke Britzen sets a good example and sums it up: “Times have never been better for women to enter science. Makes it!"