Black hole named ‘Powehi’ by Hawaii university professor

The word apparently means “the adorned fathomless dark creation” or “embellished dark source of unending creation”.

This image released on April 10, 2019 by Event Horizon Telescope shows a black hole. Scientists revealed the first image ever made of a black hole after assembling data gathered by a network of radio telescopes around the world. Photo: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration/Maunakea Observatories

A language professor has given a Hawaiian name — Powehi — to the black hole depicted in an image produced in a landmark experiment.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Thursday that University of Hawaii-Hilo Hawaiian Professor Larry Kimura named the cosmic object.

The world’s first image of a black hole revealed on Wednesday was created using data from eight radio telescopes around the world.

The newspaper reports the word meaning “the adorned fathomless dark creation” or “embellished dark source of unending creation” comes from the Kumulipo, an 18th Century Hawaiian creation chant.

Astronomers say giving it a Hawaiian name was justified because the project included two telescopes in Hawaii.

Jessica Dempsey, a co-discoverer of the black hole, says the word is an excellent match for the scientific description she provided to Kimura.