Page 9 - FOS/Newsletter/Science@UM365March2021

SPECIAL FEATURE

The importance of the breakthrough is outstanding, as the
topic of black hole and astrophysics have been recognized
by last year’s Nobel Prize in physics: the 2020 beneficiaries
were Roger Penrose, for the discovery that black hole
formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of
relativity, and Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez, for the
discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre
of our galaxy. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences,
awarder of the Nobel Prize, has also mentioned the
achievement of the EHT in their press release. The 2020
Black hole Nobel prize is not unfamiliar to the Radio Cosmology
Laboratory Group in Universiti Malaya (UM), led by
Associate Professor Dr. Zamri Zainal Abidin, with Dr. Juan
An ultra-high angular Carlos as one of its members. The EHT, of which Dr. Juan
resolution image of radio Carlos is also a member, has not only inferred the
emission from the existence of a supermassive compact object in the center
of the galaxy M87, but has moved a step forward and taken
supermassive black hole a picture of it. The EHT will also be soon showing an image
believed to lie at the heart of of SgrA*, the supermassive black hole in our own galaxy,
galaxy M87 the Milky Way. Dr. Juan Carlos who was born in Spain, was

first involved with the collaboration when he moved to
Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics
(ASIAA), where he joined the team involved in deploying a
telescope in Greenland that could eventually be used for
the EHT. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University College
Cork, Ireland. He went to ASIAA in Taiwan for four years,
and later to Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
and Seoul National University for another four years. His
background research includes the knowledge of Very Long
Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), a type of astronomical
interferometry used in radio astronomy. This is the same
technique used with the Event Horizon Telescope,
combining different radio-telescopes around the world to
observe the black hole. On the other hand, Associate
Professor Dr. Zamri Zainal Abidin is pursuing the
development of VLBI in Malaysia and the installation of a
radio telescope with VLBI capabilities to study black hole
frontiers. The group also has tight collaboration with Seoul
National University Professor Dr. Sascha Trippe, a member
of the UM-led Malaysia/EAO Observer Consortium
(MEASOOC), who has done extensive research together
Dr Juan Carlos Algaba Marcos with Nobel prize winner Reinhard Genzel.

"Nobel prizes should not be seen as unreachable dreams only
achieved by geniuses at their peaks; on the contrary, they should

be considered as inspiration for the next generations, whatever

their dream is, wherever they come from. Grow as a person, and
remember your origins. The dream is yours to pursue"

Science@UM365 PAGE 7