Academia Sinica is hoping to catch the eye of Taipei International Book Exhibition visitors with a pavilion showcasing astronomy projects in collaboration with global experts.
Academia Sinica said visitors to its booth, dubbed “Academia Emporium,” can learn about one of the top research institution’s many feats — how it, in collaboration with others, took the first photograph of a black hole.
The booth features images of the black hole M87 at the center of the Virgo A galaxy and Sagittarius A, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, which were captured through the Event Horizon Telescope project, Academia Sinica said.
The project, established in 2017, is a global network of radio telescopes, including the Greenland Telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile, and the Submillimeter Array and James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii.
As one of the project’s 13 members, Academia Sinica assisted in the operation of the project’s telescopes, as well as in image processing and the development of computer simulations.
The booth also features nearly 3,500 books chronicling the institution’s research results, it said, adding that about 30 experts would hold speeches during 14 events at the book fair to promote popular science.
The book exhibition, which runs through Sunday at the Taipei World Trade Center, also includes forums highlighting Taiwanese history, modern urban cultures and the philosophy of Sinologist Yu Ying-shih (余英時).
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