Simulations like this reveal not only how a black hole might appear in a single moment, but also how it could change over time, says Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who was not involved in the work. In the future, astronomers hope to gather enough observations to make movies that unveil “what the weather is like around a black hole,” Loeb says. Comparing those real-world black hole films against simulations could reveal the underlying physics that governs an accretion disk’s appearance.