8.15 am. A thick layer of fog covers the town of Frechen, just outside Cologne. The roads to the city are becoming congested with traffic, but the residential area is quiet and peaceful. ‘You are early!’ says Falcke when he opens the door of the former miner’s cottage.
The professor has had a night with little sleep and still has to send a few e-mails.
Falcke’s wife Dagmar has already left for work. She is the principal of a local primary school. His mother-in-law, who lives below him, is still at home. ‘Tschüss, viel Glück Morgen,’ [Bye, good luck tomorrow.] she calls out before he gets into the car.
8.45 am. We drive him to the Cologne Hauptbahnhof train station. In the busy morning rush hour, the professor does not trust our GPS and prefers to give directions himself. ‘Second Ausfahrt. How do you say that in Dutch? Oh yes, afrit (exit). Yes, I know the literal translation into Dutch means funeral,’ he jokes.
9.30 am. On platform 5, Falcke meets his colleagues Eduardo, Anton and Luciano, who will also speak at the press conference.
11.30 am. A brief moment of panic. On arrival in Brussels South, Heino’s mobile phone loses the signal. ‘Problems with the Belgian network,’ he grumbles. ‘It will be a disaster if it doesn’t work today and tomorrow.’ After getting on the metro, Falcke continues to struggle with his phone. Only when we are above ground does the device start working again. ‘I survived the first crisis,’ Heino jokes.
Heino’s hotel is adjacent to the Berlaymont building, the headquarters of European Commission, where the press conference will take place tomorrow. Before checking in, he quickly takes a few pictures of the building. ‘We arrived …’ appears shortly afterwards along with the photos on his personal Twitter page.
1.15 pm. On the way to the headquarters of the European Research Council on the Rogierplein, the astronomers joke about the Brexit summit that will also take place tomorrow across the street from the ERC. ‘Maybe we should invite Merkel to our press conference? Or Rutte [the Dutch prime minister], who likes to stand in the spotlight at such events. Then we would get even more attention for our announcement,’ suggests Falcke.
1.30 pm. In a somewhat tatty grill restaurant the astronomers have a quick lunch, but not before Falcke has silently given thanks.
2.00 pm. The serious work begins. A training session for the press conference is being held at the headquarters of the European Research Council, the financier of the megaproject. About 25 people are sitting together in a meeting room on the ground floor of a high-rise apartment block. Besides the scientists, the participants include EU employees who are fiddling with their mobile phones and occasionally pacing back and forth nervously.
According to the latest plans, the five scientists who will take the floor tomorrow will each have only three minutes to speak. Just a week ago, they expected five minutes. ‘Will the EU Commissioner for Science also have less speaking time?’ Heino asks.
4.10 pm. Katharina Konigstein, who has been Falcke’s management assistant for a year and half, follows the session but also scans the requests for interviews that continue to come in via email.
Without Katharina, the trip to Brussels would be complete chaos, Falcke told us. ‘That is nice to hear,’ says Konigstein.
4.20 pm. Now it’s time to practice the press conference. Because the image of the black hole is strictly embargoed, the fifteen cameras in the room have to be put away.
‘We are looking into space’ are the first words of Falcke’s talk. As he speaks, a film plays in the background that starts with a starry sky and ends with the world premier that that will be presented tomorrow: the first image of a black hole.
During the 50-second simulation, he has difficulty saying everything he wants, so he talks faster. ‘You need to slow down a little bit,’ Holland advises him.
5.35 pm. To practice the round of questions at the end of the press conference, Konigstein and EU staff ask some tough questions.
The answers given by the speakers are then discussed in the group.
7.20 pm. After a busy day in sterile conference rooms, Falcke wants to relax with the other astronomers.
Now that the scientists are together, the atmosphere is more relaxed. No mention is made of the Brexit, but the other two topics are harder to avoid.
Together with Eduardo Ros, Falcke walks from the restaurant to the hotel, from downtown Brussels to uptown.
10.35 pm. Heino rehearses his talk a few times while pacing the carpet in his hotel room.
8.00 am. After another short night – five hours of sleep – Heino is having breakfast with Eduardo Ros and Monika Moscibrodzka, the other astronomer at Radboud University who will soon be addressing the world.
10.00 am. The astronomers work on their plans for the press conference for another two hours.
12.45 pm. Dressed in suits, the five scientists gather in the hotel lobby. Somewhat against his will, Falcke is wearing a tie.
1.15 pm. Five EU employees lead the astronomers through the room where the press conference will take place. The plans for the press conference are being changed right up to the last minute.
2.15 pm. Journalists who had already picked out a spot are asked to leave the press room temporarily: a spokesperson wants to test the slides one last time.
2.57 pm. The tension in the European Commission headquarters is tangible. In addition to 75 journalists from all over the world, many Eurocrats and #EHTBlackHole staff are in the room.
When the astronomers walk to their seats on the stage, you can hear a pin drop.
3.00 pm. Le moment suprême.
Next to him, Falcke stares at the floor, hands folded.
Falcke stands up. Because it takes a while for the film to begin, Heino introduces the four scientists next to him: Monica, Luciano, Eduardo and Anton. While holding onto the lectern with his left hand, Falcke thanks the other team members.
The lights are dimmed, the film starts.
‘We are looking into space’ are the first words of Falcke’s talk.
Then, a slight slip of the tongue.
He recovers quickly, and the rest of the talk goes smoothly.
The black spot now appears behind Falcke, surround by a halo of bright yellow radiation.
He repeats the last sentence in German, Dutch and French.
After he has given the microphone to Luciano Rezzolla, Falcke leans back, legs crossed. Occasionally he smiles at what a colleague says.
3.29 pm. During the Q&A session, no one asks the trough questions that were practiced yesterday.
3.50 pm. After the press conference, Falcke gazes into the room with shining eyes, but not for long. Friends, journalists and colleagues from the Event Horizon Telescope: everyone wants to shake hands with him.
4.30 pm. A small reception is held next to the press room. With a glass of wine in her hand, Moscibrodzka relaxes after speaking to the whole world. ‘The last 24 hours I lived on adrenaline and water,’ jokes the Polish astronomer.
In the meantime, Heino gives interview after interview. Sometimes in Dutch, then in German or English. When an interview threatens to run over time, Konigstein urges the journalist to hurry.
Falcke has acquired another 1,407 followers in one day.
On Wednesday, a team astronomers led by Heino Falcke presented the first image ever made of a black hole. Read here what three of his colleagues say about Falcke. Robbert Dijkgraaf called the image a ‘crucial breakthrough‘.