--- title: Professor Gives Black Hole the Hawaiian Name 'Powehi' description: A language professor at the University of Hawaii-Hilo called the cosmic object "Powehi." Here's what that means canonical: https://time.com/5569262/black-hole-hawaii-powehi/ author: Hillary Leung article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-12T09:09:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:27:45.681Z og:title: Professor Gives Black Hole the Hawaiian Name 'Powehi' og:description: Here's what the name means og:url: https://time.com/5569262/black-hole-hawaii-powehi/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79db781fea26659e/6989480309208f01904139f0/black-hole-photo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Black Hole Photo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Professor Gives Black Hole the Hawaiian Name 'Powehi' twitter:description: Here's what the name means twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79db781fea26659e/6989480309208f01904139f0/black-hole-photo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Black Hole Given the Hawaiian Name 'Powehi.' 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=1baf978f-1746-4fdc-8c52-bb716c22b6a2&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: This Is the First Picture of a Black Hole — And That's a Big, Even Supermassive, Deal [Watch (HLS stream): This Is the First Picture of a Black Hole — And That's a Big, Even Supermassive, Deal](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/A1GcOl8g.m3u8) (1:41)  _Published 2019-04-10. A picture of a black hole is one of those great, self-negating concepts, like the sound of silence, the presence of absence or the lives of the dead._ by [Hillary Leung](https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Apr 12, 2019 9:09 AM UTC A picture of a black hole is one of those great, self-negating concepts, like the sound of silence, the presence of absence or the lives of the dead. by [Hillary Leung](https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Apr 12, 2019 9:09 AM UTC The black hole that was captured in a first-ever picture this week has been named “Powehi,” courtesy of a language professor at the University of Hawaii-Hilo. Powehi [means](https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2019/04/10/uh-hilo-professor-names-black-hole/) “embellished dark source of unending creation”, according to a university press release. The cosmic object’s new moniker comes from the _Kumulipo_, an 18th century chant describing the creation of the Hawaiian universe. “To have the privilege of giving a Hawaiian name to the very first scientific confirmation of a black hole is very meaningful to me,” said professor Larry Kimura. The world’s first image of a black hole was made possible by eight radio telescopes, which together [formed the Event Horizon Telescope](https://eventhorizontelescope.org/blog/global-web-tour-eht-observatories) (EHT). Two of the participating observatories were located atop Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on Hawaii Island. Astronomers said the Hawaiian contribution [justified a Hawaiian name](https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/04/11/hawaii-news/black-hole-named-powehi/?HSA=7da37b1acc20a2a4182efcb5dcfbbd809047602a). “As soon as he said it, I nearly fell off my chair,” Jessica Dempsey, deputy director of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea, told the Honolulu Star _Advertiser_. Dempsey said the name succinctly captures the scientific explanation astronomers gave Kimura about their project to[ capture an image](http://time.com/5566225/first-black-hole-picture-photo/) of the massive black hole nearly 54 million light-years from Earth in the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy. “I had just spent 10 minutes explaining what this object was in science language. And in just this one word, he describes that,” she said. The image EHT captured of Powehi was made public Wednesday during a simultaneous press conference held in six cities around the world. Powehi looks to be the first of more visual evidence of black holes to come from the EHT. 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